Ivory Coast sets poll boundaries for new assembly

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Ivory Coast's new government approved revised electoral boundaries on Sunday ahead of a December 10 election for a new, larger parliament, Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou said.

Boga Doudou told state television's main evening news programme that the government had created new constituencies in line with proposals from the national electoral commission and after discussion with political parties.

Electoral boundaries had been seen as a thorny issue because of concern that new President Laurent Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), which has 18 of 23 ministerial positions, might try to draw up constituencies in its favor.

Each political party will put forward a list of candidates for each constituency. Those on the list who win the most votes will be elected as a bloc.

The government decided on Friday to extend the registration deadline for candidates by one week to November 17 to allow more time for parties to prepare their lists.

The new parliament will have 225 members compared with the 175 in the assembly dissolved after a military coup last December.

Socialist Gbagbo beat army ruler General Robert Guei in an October 22 presidential election. Guei tried to rig the result, but was forced out by mass protests.

Scores were killed in ethnic violence that followed, after supporters of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara took to the streets demanding a new election because Ouattara had been barred from standing.

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