I talk about the government system of Cote d'ivoire from executive to legislative and how elections work.

1. April 22,
2020
The Government System of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-cote-divoire-ivory-coast/
The Ivory Coast is a country located on
the southern coast in West Africa and
is bordered with Liberia, Guinea, Mali,
Burkina Faso and Ghana and its coast
is along the Atlantic Ocean. The
country’s capital is Yamoussoukro
located around the center of the
country. The reason the country’s
name is often referred to as Cote
d’Ivoire (its French name) is due to it
not recognizing any other translation
in international affairs.
Before the European’s arrived, the
area that makes up the Ivory Coast
today was made up of several
Kingdoms, with strong Islamic
influence and rule in certain parts.
Europeans settlements and colonization in the area gradually begun from the 17th
Century but it wasn’t until the mid-19th Century where France had Kings in the area sign
treaties that turned their lands into a French Protectorate and France gradually
increased their influence across the land, although meeting some violent resistance from
certain tribes and ethnic groups and with a brief interruption due to the Franco-Prussian
War.
But eventually the Ivory Coast would become a French colony in 1893 and they quashed
further opposition and resistance against them, such as from the Wassoulou Empire.
Ivory Coast was incorporated into French West Africa from 1904. During WW2 the British
occupied the colony as France had been occupied by the Nazis and what was left was the
puppet regime of Vichy France. The colony was returned to France after the war with
Nazi Germany ended.
Felix Houphouet-Boigny worked to bring the country autonomy and towards
independence due to highlighting unfair practices of France in the colony and working
against them, while gaining influence and thus being elected to the French parliament,
which led to France making changes and a 1956 Overseas Reform Act which gave
autonomy to French West Africa including the Ivory Coast.
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2. Ivory Coast would get full independence in 1960 and Felix would become its first
president, serving for three decades until his death. During these decades the country
was relatively stable and peaceful. But since that time the country has faced a military
coup in 1999 and then two civil wars in the early to mid 2000s and early 2010s. Since
then the country has been rebuilding and stabilizing.
The Ivory Coast is an ethnically diverse country with other 40 different ethnic groups, the
largest being the Akan. The official language is French but there are also many
vernacular ethnic languages used as well. Sunni Islam is the largest religion and Roman
Catholic also makes up a large percentage in 2nd as well. The country’s currency is the
West African CFA franc, which is also used by Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali,
Niger, Senegal and Togo. Ivory Coast’s booming population is estimated to reach
27,481,086 by July 2020.
Government Type
Ivory Coast Coat of Arms. By Prez001 from Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.Source.
The Ivory coast is a Presidential Republic with a President who is Head of State. There is a
bicameral parliament that makes up the legislative government and multiple parties are
allowed. Executive power is vested in both the President and Government.
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3. There is a Prime Minister (Head of Government) appointed by the President, but it would
seem they have very little power against the President and are not well known. It would
seem they are merely a unit of governmental organization at the Presidents pleasure.
Political parties can form freely as long as they respect the laws of the Republic, the
principles of national sovereignty and of democracy. Political parties are prohibited from
organizing along regional, religious, tribal, ethnic or racial lines. Legal parties benefit from
public funding.
Executive Government
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4. Current President A. Ouattara. Photo by s t on Flickr. CC BY 2.0.Source.
The executive includes the President is Head of State, representing the country abroad in
international and foreign affairs and although not Head of Government, still has
significant power over the executive government and there is also a Vice-president. Then
there is the Prime Minister, Head of Government and then finally there is the actual
Government itself, making up the structure of the executive.
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5. If the President dies, resigns or becomes permanently incapacitated then the Vice-
president will become President and serve out the rest of the term. Permanent
incapacity of the President is recognized by the Constitutional Council at the majority
request of the Government. If the same thing happens to the Vice-president then they
are simply removed and the President appoints a new one.
If it happens to the Vice-president while the Presidency is vacant then the Prime Minister
will become acting President but will be limited on a number of executive powers (such
as not being able to appoint a Prime Minister or appoint/remove members of
Government, cannot submit legislation or any matter to referendum and he cannot put
forth a revision of the country’s constitution).
The President is the exclusive holder of executive power and sets and implements the
national policy. The President ensures the enforcement of laws and court decisions. The
President has the right to pardon.
The President is the Supreme Head of the country’s Armed Forces and in that capacity
the President appoints civilian and military posts and presides over the Councils, Defense
and Security committees.
As Head of State the President accredits ambassadors and envoys to foreign powers and
international bodies and foreign ambassadors and envoys are accredited to him. The
President also negotiates and ratifies treaties and international agreements, although
certain ones to do with peace, establishment of international organizations or those that
modify the internal laws of the state must be ratified via a law instead.
The President appoints the Prime Minister after the outcome of parliamentary elections
from the largest party/group and the President can also terminate their function. At the
proposal of the Prime Minister, the President appoints the other members of
Government and also can terminate them.
The President presides over the Council of Ministers, which deliberates on decisions
determining the state’s General Policy; bills, statutes and regulatory decrees and also
appointments to senior state posts.
The President can submit draft laws or statutes to the Constitutional Council for opinion
before being examined by the Council of Ministers. The President can submit drafts of
regulatory decrees to the Council of State for opinion before it is examined by the
Council of Ministers.
As usual there are provisions in the constitution that allows the President to have
exceptional powers during extraordinary circumstances and times of emergency. The
President must first consult with the Presidents of the two chambers of Parliament and
the President of the Constitutional Council before being granted such powers. During
exceptional powers, the parliament can meet without having to be convened.
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6. The President can initiate legislation concurrently with members of parliament. The
President promulgates laws passed by parliament, if the President fails to promulgate a
law within the specified time period (within 30 days, or within 5 days if urgency is
declared) then one of the chairmen of a chamber of parliament can refer the
Constitutional Council to enforce the President to promulgate the law bill if it conforms
with the country’s constitution.
The President though can refer the bill back to parliament for reconsideration during the
time period. If the bill is passed again by an absolute majority in its same form then the
President must promulgate it. In some circumstances, after the President has consulted
with the Joint-Conventions Bureau, the President may submit any draft or matter to a
national referendum that is deemed to demand direct consultation of the people.
The President by decree can delegate some of his powers to the Vice-President, the
Prime Minister and other members of Government.
The Executive Government includes the Prime Minister as Head of Government and the
appointed ministers. The Government and Prime Minister are responsible for the
implementation of national policy, defined by the President.
The Prime Minister is in charge of organizing and coordinating the action of Government.
The Prime Minister presides over the Council of Government which is a preparatory
meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The Prime Minister and ministers are jointly accountable to the President. If the Prime
Minister resigns, it is seen as a resignation of the whole Government.
Members of Government cannot sit as a member of parliament during their tenure/time
in Government.
Legislative Government
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7. National Assembly meeting place. Image in Public Domain.
Legislative government is made up of a bicameral parliament, the two chambers being
the National Assembly which is the lower chamber and the Senate which is the upper
chamber. The main purpose as always is to introduce legislation (through committees in
the Chamber), debate, amend and pass or reject legislation, which then goes on to be
promulgated by the President. Budget bills are also submitted to the National Assembly
first and bills to do with territorial communities are always submitted to the Senate first.
The Government and members of parliament can both introduce legislation to the
parliament. Parliament also works to approves taxes and monitors the actions of
Government and assess its public policy.
Before a bill that has passed parliament is promulgated by the President, either
President of the National Assembly or Senate, or at least one-tenth of members of either
chamber or a parliamentary group can refer the bill to the Constitutional Council first,
who will decide if it conforms with the country’s constitution.
Legally constituted human rights associations can also refer laws relating to civil liberties
to the Constitutional Council before promulgation.
The above can also be done for treaties and international agreements.
If there is disagreement between the two chambers over legislation then the President of
the Republic can create a joint-committee between the house to come to a compromise,
if this fails the President of the Republic can ask the National Assembly to make a
definitive decision.
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8. The National Assembly currently has 255 democratically members.
The Senate currently has 99 members, some indirectly elected and others appointed.
The Senate is a new chamber only introduced in 2016 after a constitutional revision,
before that the parliament was a unicameral one with a single chamber (the National
Assembly).
The National Assembly and Senate elect a chamber President after parliamentary
elections, the chamber Presidents work to regulate debate and agenda and make sure
chamber rules are followed and enforced.
The President of each chamber can call an extraordinary session of parliament on a
specific agenda, at either the request of the President of the Republic or by an absolute
majority of members of a chamber.
Sittings of both chambers of parliament are public but can be closed at the request of
the President of the Republic or a vote of at least one-third of members of the respective
chamber.
The President of the Republic can call for a joint-session of parliament, in this case the
President of the National Assembly will be President of the joint sitting and the President
of the Senate will assist them as a Vice-President of the joint-sitting.
Organic law is different to typical law and what is organic law is determined by the
constitution (such as electoral law, structuring of institutions and so forth), and to vote
on them or change them there are specific conditions and rules, they are introduced to
the National Assembly and they are adopted by an absolute majority of both houses, if
rejected by the Senate then the National Assembly will require a two-third vote to adopt
it again and then pass it. Organic laws passed by parliament will first be assessed by the
Constitutional Council for its compliance with the country’s constitution before being
submitted to the President for promulgation.
Parliament gives authorization to a declaration of war, if the Senate rejects it then the
National Assembly makes a final decision.
Judicial and other Bodies
Though I’d finally make this its own section of instead of shoving it under the
executive category.
The Constitutional Council has a President who is appointed by the President of the
Republic for a non-renewable term and six councillors, three appointed by the President
of the Republic, two by the President of the National Assembly and one by the President
of the Senate. These appointed members serve six-year terms but are renewed in halves
every 3-years. Former presidents of the Republic are ex officio members.
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9. There is a Superior Council of the Judiciary/Magistracy which handles and overlooks
matters with the judicial system, as a way of keeping it independent. The person who
presides over this council is appointed by the President of the Republic from the High
Judges in office or retirement.
There is a Supreme Court which includes the Court of Cassation, the highest judicial
court in the land and the Council of State which is the highest administrative court in the
land.
The President of the Supreme Court as a whole is appointed by the President of the
Republic to a renewable term of five years from among personalities who are recognised
for their competence and proven expertise in legal matters.
The Presidents of the Court of Cassation and Council of State are appointed by decree
made in the Council of Ministers, after consultation with the Superior Council of the
Magistracy. The Presidents of these courts are also vice-presidents of the Supreme Court
as a whole.
Legislation determines the composition of the courts and the superior councils
members.
A High Court of Justice can judge the President of the Republic, the Vice-President of the
Republic and members of Government, possibly leading to their removal from office.
The President of the Republic can only be brought forth on a charge of High Treason,
while the Vice-President or any member of Government can be brought forth on charges
of acts qualified as crimes or offenses committed in the exercise of their official duties.
The High Court of Justice is composed from members elected from among themselves in
even numbers by the National Assembly and Senate and is presided over by the
President of the Supreme Court.
Indictment of the President of the Republic, Vice-President of the Republic or a member
of Government before the High Court of Justice is voted on via secret ballot by the
parliament, requiring a two-thirds majority to indict the President of the Republic and an
absolute majority to indict the Vice-President of the Republic or a member of
Government.
Electoral System
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10. Image by Sommerluk and Syanarion62 from Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.Source.
Presidential Elections happen every 5-years to elect rhe country’s President and Vice-
president, using a two-round system when to win outright in the 1st round a candidate
requires an absolute majority, if this doesn’t happen then a 2nd round is held between
the two best performing candidates and is won by simple majority. The running mate of
the Presidential candidate is elected on the same ballot as Vice-President.
Candidates must be an Ivoirian citizen from birth, of at least 35-years-old and be in
possession of all civil and political rights.
Parliamentary elections happen every 5-years. For the National Assembly its members
are elected from both multi-seat and single-seat constituencies. The multi-seat
constituencies use a Plurality-at-large system which is a non-proportional representation
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11. way of electing multiple members from a multi-seat constituency, it can mean that a
single party wins all the seats in one multi-seat constituency. The single-seat
constituencies use a first-past-the-post system.
After National Assembly elections the President appoints a Prime Minister from the
largest party/group.
For the Senate, each region and autonomous district have two members indirectly
elected and one appointed by the President. 66 members are indirectly elected by the
National Assembly, members of municipal and autonomous districts and regional
councils. 33 members are appointed by the President.
To vote in elections one must be an Ivoirian citizen, of at least 18-years old who is
enjoying all their civil and political rights. Voting is not mandatory.
Sources
The source for this is from the Cote d’Ivoire 2016 constitution (constituteproject.org) and
so is as accurate as possible but there is still a chance, I may have misinterpreted some
things and of course the constitution can always be changed and so this may eventually
become outdated and so it is important to cross-check if using this in a serious capacity.
Some information such as make-up of the parliament chambers and the population of
the country was got from the Cote d’Ivoire entry on the CIA World Factbook.
The constitution can be amended via proposal of the President of the Republic or by
members of parliament. Draft proposals considerations require an absolute majority
vote by parliament. After this if the proposed change is about presidential elections,
presidential terms of office and vacancies, and amendment procedures then approval of
this requires absolute majority in a national referendum. Passage of other amendments
not related to those topics can be passed by a four-fifth majority in parliament instead.
Next up will be the government system of Croatia.
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