The position of defense minister was given to Soro, whose FN has been in control of the northern half of the country since September 2002.

Policemen disperse people burning tyres on a street in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Dec. 6, 2010. Cote d'Ivoire's political crisis deepens with the appointment of two prime ministers by the two presidential candidates who declared the winner of the Nov. 28 presidential run-off respectively by the electoral commission and the Constitutional Council. [Kong Hui/Xinhua]

On Sunday night, Gbagbo decided to name a university don Ake Gilbert Marie N'gbo as his prime minister.

The parallel appointments were made while former South African president Thambo Mbeki was in Abidjan to resolve the crisis on behalf of the African Union (AU).

Cote d'Ivoire has been in a political impasse since the decision by the Constitutional Council to declare Gbagbo as the winner of the presidential run-off, invalidating the results of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), which had given victory to Ouattara.

Ouattara has the support of the international community while Gbagbo has the army support and is in charge of state apparatus.

The Nov. 28 vote had been expected to end the eight-year political crisis that cut the country in two in September 2002, but it resulted in two presidents and two governments marking a deepening division with uncertainties lying ahead.