Ouattara candidacy faces court

Ouattara's political future lies with the courts

Ivory Coast's supreme court has until Saturday to rule on whether opposition leader and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara may stand in the 10 December parliamentary elections.

A senior court official, Nouplezana Ouattara, told AFP on Tuesday that he had presented to the court objections raised by voters against certain candidacies.

He said the court would announce its decision on "Friday or Saturday at the latest."

There are also voter objections to the candidacies of Simone Gbagbo - the wife of President Laurent Gbagbo - and Emile Constant Bombet of the former ruling Ivory Coast Democratic Party (PDCI).

The supreme court barred Mr Ouattara from running for the presidency during the 22 October elections because doubts had been raised over his nationality.

Ivory Coast's law permits a registered elector to contest a candidacy, although conditions of eligibility are less strict for a parliamentary seat than for the presidency.

Ouattara's eligibility

Bombet: Objection raised to his candidacy

Mr Ouattara's advisor, Emmanuel Assi, said the supreme court had passed on to the former prime minister's camp "around 60" voter objections to his candidacy.

"Most of them focus on the same thing, his nationality," said Mr Assi.

The court has seven days from 25 November - which was the deadline for registering objections- to deliver a ruling.

On 22 November, the national electoral commission declared Mr Ouattara, leader of the Rally of Republicans (RDR), eligible to run for the national assembly.

Mr Ouattara's RDR and Mr Bombet's PDCI boycotted last October's presidential elections after the two candidates were barred from the race.