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| - The Ivory coast opposition on Thursday rejected concessions offered by the government in an attempt to end a boycott on the presidential election at the end of the month. The West African nation has plunged into a wave of pre-election intercommunal violence which has left at least seven people dead and 40 others injured in recent days in Dabou town west of Abidjan, according to officials. Around 20 people have died in such clashes since August. "Opposition candidates are maintaining their policy civil disobedience and reiterate their request for international mediation," Maurice Kakou Guikahue, the main opposition movement PDCI's number two, told reporters. The country's rulers on Wednesday opened the door to a possible reform of the electoral commission (CEI) which the opposition considers "subservient" to the regime of President Alassane Ouattara. The violence in the lead-up to the presidential vote on October 31 has stirred raw memories of post-electoral clashes that killed some 3,000 people in 2010-11, when then-president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept his defeat to challenger Alassane Ouattara. The regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Monday urged opposition parties to "seriously reconsider their decision to boycott the election, and their call on their supporters to engage in civil disobedience". The opposition has allowed doubts to swirl over whether it will shun the vote, urging supporters to boycott the electoral process and campaigning, while stopping short of withdrawing three candidacies The calls for a boycott came after Ouattara, who has governed for two terms, said he would stand again in defiance of a constitutional limit, saying that a 2016 reform has reset the counter. Dozens of would-be candidates have been barred from running in the election, including Gbagbo and ex-rebel chief Guillaume Soro, who both played key roles in the 2010-11 crisis. de/pvh/cdw
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