Both houses of Ivory Coast's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved controversial constitutional reforms proposed by President Alassane Ouattara in a vote boycotted by the opposition. The vote was 246 to two. Ouattara sought to quash speculation about his intentions when he announced on March 5 that he would not seek a third term, but he also unveiled proposed tweaks to the 2016 basic law, which he himself promoted. The proposals included eliminating the two-candidate "ticket" for president and vice president, with the president instead naming the number two after the polls. The opposition boycotted from both chambers. "We the opposition are against a single comma being changed in the constitution a few months before the presidential election" set for October 31, N'Goran Djedri of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) told AFP. "It's a charade. None of the most basic rules were followed for this change." The run-up to the election is tense in the West African country, coming a decade after a post-election crisis was sparked when incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept his defeat to Ouattara. The ensuing violence claimed some 3,000 lives and shattered Ivory Coast's image as a beacon of stability and democracy in the region. Last week Ouattara's party named Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly as its candidate in the October vote. So far on the opposition side, only former prime minister Guillaume Soro, who has turned against Ouattara since supporting him during the conflict, has declared his candidacy. The 47-year-old, who has been accused of plotting against Ouattara and faces an arrest warrant in the country, currently lives in former colonial power France. Former president Henri Konan Bedie, 86, has hinted at a run but has remained mum. pgf/jpc/gd/ser