20100111

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The ruling party of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo called for the electoral commission chief to resign on Monday, casting doubt on whether Ivory Coast will be able to hold long-delayed post-war polls on time.

It accused Robert Mambe, a member of the opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), of fraud in drawing up a voter list and called for his prosecution.

Mambe told Reuters he would not yet comment on the claims.

No authority has questioned him or charged him but as Ivory Coast approaches an election nearly five years overdue, the last thing most war-weary Ivorians want to see is a political spat causing further delays.

In a statement on Saturday, Gbagbo accused the electoral commission (CEI) of failing to deal thoroughly with all contested cases, saying it had admitted some 429,000 voters who may be illegitimate.

His party took that accusation a step further on Monday.

"Officials at the CEI had already reported the existence of a vast operation of fraud in the electoral list conducted by Robert Mambe," wrote Affi N'Guessan, president of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party in the state-owned Fraternite Matin daily.

"These reports ... damage not only the credibility of the CEI but the honour of Ivory Coast."