Ruling RHDP party wins majority in Ivory Coast's parliamentary election

Reuters
·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Presidential election in Abidjan

DAKAR (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's ruling party won 58% of seats in parliamentary elections, results showed on Sunday, strengthening President Alassane Ouattara's hand to pursue his political agenda.

Ouattara's allies faced a combined challenge from opposition parties led by two of his predecessors, Henri Konan Bedie and Laurent Gbagbo, but they failed to mount a sufficient challenge.

Ouattara's Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party took 147 of 255 seats.

The poll comes only months after Ouattara won a third term in an election marred by unrest that killed at least 85 people, the country's worst violence since a 2010-2011 civil war.

Ouattara now aims to pursue an agenda based on attracting investment to the world's top cocoa producer.

(Reporting By Ange Aboa; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Daniel Wallis)