More than a month and a half after the dissolution of the Independent Electoral Commission, Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé met with political parties on Monday, June 22, to present the current state of reflections on a new electoral system that the government is preparing to submit to Parliament.

According to Prime Minister  Mambé, the new electoral architecture has been designed by a group of experts who studied various electoral models from across West Africa.

The proposed system will be structured around three main pillars: a body responsible exclusively for the logistical organization of elections; a second body in charge of vote tabulation to ensure the quality and integrity of results; and a third institution tasked with supervising and monitoring the entire electoral process.

“Trust must be present at every stage of the process,” the Prime Minister emphasized before members of the government and a significant portion of the political class.

This new framework is expected to be presented to the National Assembly in the near future.

The African Peoples’ Party – Côte d’Ivoire  (PPA-CI), led by former President Laurent Gbagbo, did not attend the meeting. Other opposition parties, however, expressed general support for the principles of neutrality and transparency guiding the reform process.

Georges Ezaley, a senior member of the PDCI political bureau, welcomed the initiative, calling it “a good step forward,” while adding that “these are still only principles that have been stated.” He stressed that the real test will be the practical implementation of these reforms.