Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara signed a new constitution into law on Tuesday.
Voters endorsed the new charter with over 93 percent of the vote in a referendum last month, and the Ivory Coast court upheld [JURIST reports] the referendum results last week. One of the major changes in the new constitution is that candidates now only must have one natural born Ivorian parent.}
The Ivory Coast has faced turmoil since 2010 when former president Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] ran for reelection against former prime minister Ouattara. The EU recognized that Ouattara defeated Gbagbo, but Gbagbo refused to concede victory. Gbagbo has been accused [JURIST report] of starting a civil war after losing the presidency, which resulted in 3,000 deaths and one million people displaced. Gbagbo is currently facing trial before the International Criminal Court.
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