Ivory Coast Agrees On New Electoral Commission

Ivory Coast authorities have announced a new election commission, Independent Electoral Commission, to be headed by the country's immediate foreign minister Mr,Youssouf Bakayoko , as a key strategy to ending disputes that have threatened the country's peace process for a long time .

Bakayoko ,who has been a member of opposition party , Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), where the previous electoral head also came from, is expected to abandon party activities.

The crisis began two weeks ago, when President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the previous body, accusing it of fraud and being controlled by the opposition.

Gbagbo's decision led to deadly protests across the country.

The new commission's leadership team remains dominated by the opposition. Elections have again been postponed.

No new date has been set for the elections , although officials hope they could be held in April or May this year.

Polls to end the crisis sparked by the 2002 civil war have now been put off six times.

The new head of the commission was selected after late night discussions between the opposition, ex-rebels and allies of the president.

The consensus comes two days after a new unity government was announced - the previous one had been sacked along with commission.

Voter registration has been at the heart of the dispute.

The presidential camp accused the previous electoral commission head,Mr. Robert Mambe, of fraudulently trying to add 429,000 names to the electoral roll.

The opposition, meanwhile, said court cases brought by the presidential camp to eliminate thousands of names from the electoral roll, was a deliberate targeting of northerners, less likely to vote for Mr Gbagbo."

The New Forces,the former rebel movement that still controls the north of the country , had hoped their candidate would get the job of heading the electoral body .

The presidential camp had been calling for a neutral figure - from civil society or a respected religious leader.

It is unclear what concessions have been made behind the scenes.