IVORY COAST: Ivorian opposition to join government and calls off protests after electoral commission is reinstated

Record ID: 181656

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Ivorian opposition to join government and calls off protests after electoral commission is reinstated
  • Date: 27th February 2010
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (FEBRUARY 26, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION MEMBERS IN MEETING (5 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) OPPOSITION COALITION SPOKESMAN, ALPHONSE DJEDJE MADY, SAYING: "Today the RHDP and PIT (Ivorian Workers Party) have decided to participate in the government. We still have a few details to sort out with the Prime Minister, but the question of participation in the government is settled." "Today the RHDP (The Houphouetistes for Democracy and Peace) and PIT (Ivorian Workers Party) have therefore decided to make their entry into the government. There remain some small questions to sort out but the principle of our entering the government is agreed." ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE OPPOSITION (SOUNDBITE) (French) OPPOSITION SPOESKMAN, ALPHONSE DJEDJE MADY, SAYING: "The (peace) process is still ongoing, and we need to stay vigilant, but we need to suspend all protests." VARIOUS OF LEADER OF THE YOUNG PATRIOTS, CHARLES BLE GOUDE, TALKING TO ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES (SOUNDBITE) (French) LEADER OF YOUNG PATRIOTS, CHARLES BLE GOUDE, SAYING: "What we don't want, is that the political parties bring their conflict with each other to the heart of the commission in charge of organising transparent elections. I salute the agreement, and I wish that we understand the consequences of the fraudulent acts committed by the old commission. We need to progress now, and leave our emotions aside, leave aside our partisan positions, and think about Ivory Coast. Anyway, this commission has the support of the Young Patriots and the Youth arm of the Presidential camp." PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO ENTERING PRESIDENTIAL PALACE NEW GOVERNMENT MEMBERS STANDING AND TALKING TO IVORIAN PRIME MINISTER GUILLAUME SORO, JOURNALIST TAKING PHOTOS
  • Embargoed: 14th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACYL6GJH8YPOX3DIQPGOK7C9FW
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's opposition will join the new government and call off violent protests that have rocked the nation since President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the electoral commission this month, an opposition spokesman said on Friday (February 26).
    The west African country, the world's top producer of cocoa, announced the formation of a new electoral commission after naming a replacement government. These are key steps towards holding long-delayed elections and ending the demonstrations in which at least seven people have died.
    "Today the RHDP (The Houphouetistes for Democracy and Peace) and PIT (Ivorian Workers Party) have therefore decided to make their entry into the government. There remain some small questions to sort out but the principle of our entering the government is agreed," spokesman for the opposition groups Alphonse Djedje Mady said.
    The main opposition coalition had also vowed to continue protests against Gbagbo until he reinstated the commission and the government. They were now called off, Mady said.
    "The (peace) process is still ongoing, and we need to stay vigilant, but we need to suspend all protests," he said.
    Gbagbo disbanded the government and electoral commission on Feb. 12 after accusing former commission chief Robert Mambe, also a PDCI member, of illegally adding names to the voter list to boost the opposition. Mambe has denied the charge.
    That decision delayed elections that were already years overdue from March, provoking a public outcry that led to the violent street protests.
    The new electoral commission said earlier on Friday that its president would be Youssouf Bakayoko, an opposition PDCI party member. Commission members were chosen in a deal struck by Ivory Coast's political parties, and the commission then elected Bakayoko to lead it.
    Charles Ble Goude, the leader of the youth wing of the ruling party, said the Young Patriots support Bakayoko.
    "What we don't want, is that the political parties bring their conflict with each other to the heart of the commission in charge of organising transparent elections. I salute the agreement, and I wish that we understand the consequences of the fraudulent acts committed by the old commission. We need to progress now, and leave our emotions aside, leave aside our partisan positions, and think about Ivory Coast. Anyway, this commission has the support of the Young Patriots and the Youth arm of the Presidential camp," Ble Goude told reporters.
    Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a former rebel during Ivory Coast's 2002-03 civil war, announced a new government on Tuesday, with positions for both opposition parties, after a compromise mediated by Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.
    Getting the electoral commission back on track is regarded as far more important than the government, which has been transitional since its mandate expired in 2005.
    Elections are seen as the only way of restoring legitimacy to the government and ending the crisis in Ivory Coast, which has persisted since the war split it in two.
    Mady said he thought elections would be possible by May 8 if the electoral commission gets to work immediately. It still has to finish the job of drawing up a final voter list and dealing with all the contested names on the provisional list.
    Public anger is raging after years of delays. The military opened fire on protesters in the past few days, killing at least seven. Cocoa output, though, has been largely unaffected.
    Some 6 million voters registered for the poll, but around a million were contested on grounds of nationality, a divisive issue that started the civil war in the first place.
    Frequent setbacks to the country's peace process have left Ivorians cynical about politics and their leaders.
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