Opposition refuses to join new Ivory Coast government unless fired ministers are restored

Opposition refuses to join new Ivory Coast govt

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — An Ivory Coast opposition spokesman says they will not join the new government created by President Laurent Gbagbo unless he agrees to restore recently fired opposition ministers.

Bertin Kouadio Konan says the opposition wants Gbagbo to give the ministers their jobs back, as he did with many fired ministers from his ruling party.

Gbagbo plunged the country into crisis earlier this month when he dissolved the government just weeks ahead of presidential elections in a move critics say was a pretext for delaying the ballot.

The opposition and the ruling party agreed on the government’s composition, giving roughly the same number of ministries as before to the opposition. But since then, the opposition has refused to name their 11 ministers.