Ivory Coast Vice President resigns citing personal reasons

AP | Ivory Coast’s vice president has submitted his resignation less than a week after the prime minister died, officials said Monday, throwing the West African country’s political scene into further disarray three months before pivotal national elections.

Daniel Kablan Duncan had been appointed to the position by President Alassane Ouattara 3 years ago. The 77-year-old vice president cited personal reasons for his decision, the presidency said without releasing further details.

Ouattara praised him as “a man of duty and commitment.”

Duncan was the first to serve as vice president, a post created by Ivory Coast’s new constitution in 2016. He had previously served twice as prime minister — from 1993 to 1999, and again from 2012 to 2017.

The resignation comes less than a week after Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly died after a cabinet meeting in Abidjan. Coulibaly was the president’s chosen successor as the ruling party’s presidential candidate in the October elections.

Ouattara’s party has been in power since 2010.

The only other declared candidates for the October election are 86-year-old former President Henri Konan Bedie and ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro.