Ivory Coast on Wednesday dissolved the authority responsible for organising elections following sustained opposition criticism over its handling of polls, but did not say what would replace it.

The decision, taken at a cabinet meeting, comes after an October presidential election in which veteran leader Alassane Ouattara was re-elected for a contested fourth term and several heavyweight opposition figures were barred.

“In view of the reservations expressed about this institution (the Independent Electoral Commission, or CEI), as well as the criticism it has faced, the Council of Ministers has decided to dissolve it,” said government spokesman and Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly.

“I cannot tell you at this stage what this new mechanism will be, which will certainly be discussed and put in place at the government level,” he said.

“The aim,” he said, was “to ensure, in a lasting way, the organisation of peaceful elections by creating greater trust and reassuring all Ivorians and the political class.”

Former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan (2000-2003), one of those whose presidential candidacy was rejected last year, called on the government on his X account to “open a dialogue with political and civil society organisations to rebuild the electoral system, in the name of peace and stability”.

Contacted by AFP, the main opposition force, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) of Tidjane Thiam, and the African Peoples’ Party-Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) of former president Laurent Gbagbo, did not comment.

Both Gbagbo and Thiam were prevented from taking part in the election over a criminal conviction and nationality issues, respectively.

The opposition has regularly and strongly denounced the lack of independence of the electoral commission, which is tasked with organising polls, ensuring the strict application of the electoral code and overseeing the electoral roll.

Iran’s state-run Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said on Saturday that the war with the United States and Israel had killed more than 3,400 people in the Islamic republic.

The announcement comes in the midst of a two-week ceasefire in the conflict, which erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

Foundation head Ahmad Mousavi was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying that 3,468 “martyrs… fell during the recent conflict”.

A previous toll from the head of the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization issued on April 12 said 3,375 people in Iran had been killed in the war.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on April 7 that at least 3,636 people had been killed, including 1,701 civilians — among them at least 254 children — as well as 1,221 military personnel and 714 people whose status had not been classified.

Due to reporting restrictions, AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor to independently verify tolls in Iran.

US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

On Saturday, the 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders to end the violence, telling worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”