Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday said he plans to stage a referendum on constitutional change and legislative elections within the next six months.
"Carrying out the constitutional referendum in September-October, and the legislative elections in November-December, that's the timeframe that I wanted to talk to you about," Ouattara told a meeting with the country's opposition.
He promised to "develop a consensus" on the text of the new charter and to consult the opposition.
Ouattara, 73, was re-elected by overwhelming majority for a second and final five-year term last October.
He promised on the campaign trail to hold a plebiscite on changing the constitution, notably suppressing a clause on national identity that has driven bloody civil conflict.
The so-called "Ivorian-ness" clause in the existing charter, which took effect in 2000, stipulates that both parents of a presidential candidate must be born on Ivorian soil, and not have sought nationality in another country.
The clause became widely resented by people in northern Ivory Coast, many of whom have family ties in Burkina Faso and Mali, and raised a hurdle for Ouattara himself in his bid for the presidency.
The tension finally led to months of post-poll bloodshed in 2010, culminating with the ouster of Ouattara's predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to concede defeat in elections.
Around 3,000 people died. Gbagbo himself is on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.
Ivory Coast is struggling to overcome the trauma and recover its once-coveted status as a beacon of stability and prosperity in West Africa.
Ouattara has set up an expert group which has until the end of the month to put forward proposals for constitutional change.
"The modifications that we intend to make will take into account our history, our culture and the values that we wish to promote for the new Ivory Coast," Ouattara said in his investiture speech in November.
A source close to the presidency said that ideas being studied include setting up a vice presidency and a senate, eliminating the position of prime minister and setting down fixed timetables for elections.
Government spokesman Bruno Kone last Friday said Ouattara had "no intention of changing" the current constitution's limits on presidential terms.
On Tuesday, Pascal Affi N'Guessan, who heads the Ivorian People's Front founded by Gbagbo, said the meeting with Ouattara left him skeptical.
"There are many things on which we don't agree," he said. "There's work to be done on freedoms and rights, on the nature of the government... things have started off on the wrong foot. If we don't change direction, I fear very much that a constitution will be drawn up which will not forge the consensus which is being sought.
