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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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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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 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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