Ivory Coast - Prime Minister Soro, Government To Resign Thursday

Ivory Coast's prime minister will resign on Thursday to make way for the formation of a broader coalition government, an official told Reuters.

The departure of Guillaume Soro will allow President Alassane Ouattara to keep his campaign promise by appointing a prime minister from the former ruling PDCI party of Henri Konan Bedie, who backed him in the second round of the 2010 election.

Soro's Forces Nouvelles rebel group and former president Bedie backed Ouattara in the aftermath of the disputed election and the four-month post-election conflict which ended in April last year with the capture of former leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo is being held at The Hague's international crimes tribunal where he faces war crimes charges.

"The entire government will resign today," an adviser to Soro said, requesting not to be named.

Local media and the government's newspaper said it will resign after a cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

Soro, 39, has held the position of prime minister for five years, first under a unity government with Gbagbo.

He is expected to take the helm of the national assembly - the second most powerful position in the country after the president - following his election as member of parliament in December.

REUTERS