2016 Ivorian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Ivory Coast on 18 December 2016.[1] The new constitution, which was approved in a referendum in October, reduced the term for the 255 members of the National Assembly from five to four years.

2016 Ivorian parliamentary election

18 December 2016

Party Leader % Seats ± RHDP Henri Konan Bédié 50.26 167 -44 FPI Pascal Affi N'Guessan 5.83 3 New UDPCI Albert Toikeusse Mabri 2.99 6 -1 UPCI Gnamien Konan 1.03 3 +2 Independent – 38.50 76 +41 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The presidential coalition, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (composed of the Rally of the Republicans, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally and some minor parties) won more than the half the seats in the National Assembly.

Electoral system

The 255 members of the National Assembly were elected from 169 single-member constituencies and 36 multi-member constituencies with between two and six seats.[2][3] In single-member constituencies voters cast a vote for one candidate who is elected by first-past-the-post voting; whereas in multi-member constituencies candidates were elected by plurality-at-large voting, where voters cast a single vote for a closed list, with the list receiving the most votes winning all seats in the constituency.[4]

Campaign

A total of 1,336 candidates contested the elections, 597 representing 38 political parties and 739 as independents.[5] The Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace had the most candidates (248), with the Ivorian Popular Front (which had boycotted the 2011 elections) the only other party to run candidates in more than half of constituencies, having nominated 187 candidates.[5] Sixteen parties contested only one seat.[5]

Results

In constituency 34 there was a tie between two candidates, with the independent candidate Léonard Guéi Desseloue and Marius Sarr Bohe (RHDP) both receiving 1,231 votes. A second round of voting took place within 15 days.[6] Léonard Sahé won the last constituency achieving 52.69% while Marius Sarr got 46.31%.[7]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace	1,019,057	50.26	167	–44
	Ivorian Popular Front	118,130	5.83	3	New
	Union for Democracy and Peace in Ivory Coast	60,566	2.99	6	–1
	Union for Ivory Coast	20,806	1.03	3	+2
	Liberty and Democracy for the Republic	3,050	0.15	0	0
	Rally for Peace, Progress and Sharing	2,628	0.13	0	New
	United Cape for Democracy and Development	2,513	0.12	0	0
	Alliance of Democratic Forces	2,308	0.11	0	New
	Union of Democrats for Progress	2,235	0.11	0	New
	Democratic and Civic Union	2,207	0.11	0	0
	Democratic and Social Movement	1,576	0.08	0	0
	Renewal for Peace and Agreement	1,303	0.06	0	New
	Collective of Democratic Ivorians	1,136	0.06	0	New
	Congress for Ivorian Renewal	1,101	0.05	0	New
	Union for Total Democracy in Ivory Coast	984	0.05	0	0
	People's Party of Social Democrats	861	0.04	0	New
	Republican Union for Democracy	848	0.04	0	New
	Union for Progress	648	0.03	0	New
	Pan-African Democratic Rally	644	0.03	0	0
	National Democratic and Reformist Front	596	0.03	0	New
	Ivorian Party of Greens	466	0.02	0	New
	National Civic Movement	444	0.02	0	0
	Congress of People for Development and Freedom	440	0.02	0	New
	Union for National Progress	319	0.02	0	0
	People's Socialist Union	306	0.02	0	0
	Democracy for Freedom and Cohesion	233	0.01	0	New
	Ivorian Party of Rising to Challenges	201	0.01	0	0
	Party of Unity and Progress of Ivory Coast	184	0.01	0	New
	Revolutionary Communist Party of Ivory Coast	178	0.01	0	0
	Congress for Ivorian Renewal–Panafrican	177	0.01	0	New
	Ivorian Ecological Movement	163	0.01	0	0
	Union of Popular Masses	134	0.01	0	New
	Republican Party of Ivory Coast	106	0.01	0	0
	Union for Development and Freedoms	101	0.00	0	New
	National Alliance of Ivory Coast	93	0.00	0	New
	Ivorian Party of Farmers	40	0.00	0	0
	Progressive Movement of Ivory Coast	30	0.00	0	New
	La Renaissance	20	0.00	0	0
	Independents	780,629	38.50	76	+41
Total		2,027,461	100.00	255	0
Valid votes		2,027,461	94.83
Invalid/blank votes		110,575	5.17
Total votes		2,138,036	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,268,113	34.11
Source: CEI

Aftermath

When the National Assembly began meeting for the new parliamentary term, Guillaume Soro, an RHDP deputy, was re-elected as President of the National Assembly on 9 January 2017. He received 230 votes from the 252 deputies present; Evariste Méambly, an independent deputy, received 12 votes, and there were 10 spoilt votes.[8]

References

1. "Législatives ivoiriennes: les forces politiques en ordre de marche, ou presque" (in French). 15 November 2016.
2. Electoral system IPU
3. https://www.cei-ci.org/pdf/LISTE-CIR-ELECTORALES.PDF
4. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p306 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
5. Statistique des candidatures retenues par groupement au 13/12/2016 CEI
6. Proclamation des résultats définitifs du scrutin législatif du 18 décembre 2016 : Allocution du président Abidjan.net, 20 December 2016
7. Côte d’Ivoire : Léonard Guéi a remporté le 255e siège de député AfricTelegraph.com, 31 December 2016
8. Claire Rainfroy, "Côte d’Ivoire : Guillaume Soro largement réélu président de l’Assemblée nationale", Jeune Afrique, 9 January 2017 (in French).

External links

• List of candidates Independent Electoral Commission
• National Results