The ruling party in Ivory Coast has a clear lead in parliamentary elections, according to early results announced Sunday, and appears headed for a big majority in the national assembly.The voting, carried out on Saturday, was marked by a poor turn-out following a boycott call by opposition parties.The election came two months after 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara won a presidential ballot that extended his 14-year rule.The Independent Electoral Commission(CEI) said early on Sunday the provisional participation rate was 32.34 percent, lower than the previous legislative elections in 2021 when turnout was 37.88 percent.More than eight million people were registered to vote for members of the national assembly, where lawmakers from the ruling RHDP party already hold a majority.The RHDP was ahead in most of the around 100 constituencies for which results were available Sunday, including in the south and west of the country where the opposition had strongholds.Its candidates in the new poll included Prime Minister Robert Beugre Mambe and Tene Birahima Ouattara, a brother of the president and defence minister.The PPA-CI party of former president Laurent Gbagbo, who was banned from the presidential vote because of a criminal conviction, boycotted the legislative election.About 20 members of his party were standing, however, as independent candidates.Results for the economic capital Abidjan were not yet known Sunday afternoon.The 255-seat national assembly is voted in every five years.In October, Ouattara won with nearly 90 percent of votes cast in an election in which most opposition figures were excluded.
