Ivory Coast president seeks parliament majority in election

Abidjan: Scuffles broke out Saturday as Ivory Coast held parliamentary elections, two months after 83 year old Alassane Ouattara won a presidential ba...

Abidjan: Scuffles broke out Saturday as Ivory Coast held parliamentary elections, two months after 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara won a presidential ballot that extended his 14-year rule.

More than eight million people are registered to vote for members of the national assembly, where lawmakers from the ruling party currently hold a majority. Elections in Ivory Coast are often marred by political tensions or violence.

More than 40,000 security force personnel who had been deployed for the presidential election in late October had been maintained for Saturday's polls.

"There have been scuffles, but they were indeed brought under control by our law enforcement officers," Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, the head of the independent electoral commission, told reporters.

"These incidents are so minor that they do not affect the proper conduct of the process," he added, without giving details.