One of Ivory Coast's opposition leaders called on Thursday for a power-sharing council to replace President Laurent Gbagbo until a long-delayed presidential election could be held in the divided country.
Alassane Ouattara also said the constitution should be suspended. His proposals came days after heads of state from West African bloc ECOWAS recommended Gbagbo serve 12 more months in the world's top cocoa grower until an election could be held.
A UN-backed transition in Ivory Coast, split in two since a 2002/2003 civil war, expires on October 31. The opposition and rebels holding the north of the country say Gbagbo will lack legitimacy after that date.
Ouattara said executive power should be shared among a council comprising himself, former president and fellow opposition leader Henri Konan Bedie, Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro. The chairmanship of the council would rotate.
"We recommend the introduction of a presidential council including presidents Alassane Dramane Ouattara, Henri Konan Bedie, Laurent Gbagbo and the Secretary General of the New Forces, Guillaume Soro," he said in a document seen by Reuters.
The plan is similar to a suggestion by Africa's longest-serving leader, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, for power-sharing under which Gbagbo would remain as head of state. Ouattara would be vice president, Soro prime minister and Bedie responsible for drawing up a new constitution.
"It is now an established fact that keeping the constitution is a serious threat to the implementation of the (peace) accords," the document said. "It is not right that the head of state, a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections who has no legitimacy, should continue to assert the constitution to seize power."
A coalition of opposition parties, including Ouattara's Rally of Republicans party (RDR), called on supporters to turn out for a rally in an Abidjan sports stadium on Sunday. Street demonstrations are banned.
Gbagbo was elected in 2000 and has described outside mediation efforts as foreign meddling in his country. He insists the constitution allows him to stay on until polls are held.
The collision course between Gbagbo and his opponents in the run-up to October 31 has raised fears of a return to conflict in the former French colony, which was for years a beacon of peace and prosperity in a conflict-torn region.
More than 11,000 UN and French peacekeepers police a shaky cease-fire line between the rebel and government sides. The recommendations made by the ECOWAS leaders will be presented to the African Union on October 17. If endorsed, they will then go to the UN Security Council for approval.
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