Rules for Candidates’ Heritage at Issue

Ivory Coast’s president agreed to allow a constitutional review of the requirements for the presidency, an issue that has politically split the West African nation.

Laurent Gbagbo will ask the National Assembly to consider dropping a requirement that a presidential candidate have parents who were both born in Ivory Coast. The southern-based government has used the requirement to bar a presidential run by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, claiming his parents were born outside the country.

The issue has been a key point of conflict between Christian groups of the long-dominant south and Muslim groups of the north. Ouattara is favored by many northerners.