Cote d'Ivoire's President Laurent Gbagbo has dissolved the government and electoral commission ahead of controversial upcoming elections, news reports said.

Speaking on television on Friday, Gbagbo called on Prime Minister Guillaume Soro to form a new government by next Monday night.

Radio France Internationale (RFI) quoted Gbagbo as saying the country's peace process was "once again broken." Elections have been postponed several times in recent years amidst a struggle that has pitted the country's north against the south. The United Nations maintains a peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire.

Voter registration was suspended on Thursday. Gbagbo accused the head of the electoral commission of fraudulently adding more than 400,000 people to the voters list.

"I want a government that serves the interests of the Ivorian people and not the orders of political parties," the BBC quoted Gbagbo as saying.

"The mission of this new government will be, under the authority of the president and the prime minister, to complete the final actions necessary to bring Cote d'Ivoire out of its political crisis."

The BBC said opposition leaders contend that most of the people disqualified on the voters list were from northern ethnic groups that were unlikely to support Gbagbo.

Gbagbo came to power after annulled elections in 2000 when a popular revolt forced out the nation's military ruler.