Ivory Coast's ruling party appeared set for a landslide victory according to partial results Sunday from local elections expected to gauge support two years from presidential elections, electoral commission data showed.

The ruling RHDP won in two-thirds of the 112 communes where results have so far been tallied, according to the partial results.

A total of 201 communes were up for grabs at Saturday's elections.

The two main opposition parties -- Democratic Party (PDCI) and Democratic Party (PDCI --who had teamed up in many areas to take on the RHDP, won in 15 of the communes counted, with the rest going to independent candidates.

A total of 31 regional councils were also up for election on Saturday.

The first eight results from those contests all went to the RHDP, according to the electoral commission, with Prime Minister Patrick Achi winning in the southern Me region and Defence Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara in Tchologo, in the north.

Read more‘Glad to return to Ivory Coast,’ says Gbagbo after much-awaited homecoming

The elections were the first since former president Laurent Gbagbo returned to Ivory Coast in June 2021 after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court on human rights charges linked to post-electoral violence in 2011.

The results of Saturday's voting are expected to continue coming in on Monday.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

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