Ivory Coast’s Speaker of Parliament, Guillaume Soro has resigned his position, according to local media portals.

The news of his resignation has been widespread in the past few weeks.

It is widely expected that he will declare his candidature for the 2020 presidential polls as incumbent Alassane Ouattara completes his second constitutionally mandated term.

“At this point, I am resigning,” Soro who has fallen out with the president is reported to have said at a special sitting he convened.

“Refusing to resign would lead to an institutional crisis – we cannot risk endangering the fragile peace to keep a job,” he added.

Soro, a former rebel chief, has served as speaker of the national assembly since 2010 when Ouattara became president after a hotly contested poll that spiraled into violence.