IVORY COAST: President Laurent Gbagbo casts his vote in country's first Presidential election in more than a decade

Record ID: 181716

  • Title: IVORY COAST: President Laurent Gbagbo casts his vote in country's first Presidential election in more than a decade
  • Date: 1st November 2010
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (OCTOBER 31, 2010) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) IVORIAN PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO WALKING WITH CROWDS CHEERING CROWDS CHEERING "PRESI, PRESI!" VARIOUS OF GBAGBO CASTING HIS VOTE (SOUNDBITE) (French) IVORIAN PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO, SAYING: "This vote had to take place so that Ivory Coast comes out of the civil war, comes out of the crisis and I am happy today that this vote is going on as normal." GBAGBO SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) IVORIAN PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO SAYING: "It's about respecting the law. Ivorian candidates shouldn't show themselves in a bad light by each proclaiming their own results. We have a law which is clear and it's the Independent Electoral Commission which has the ability to proclaim the provisional results. Then it's up to the Constitutional Council which will give out the final results." GBAGBO LEAVING SURROUNDED BY SUPPORTERS AND JOURNALISTS EUROPEAN UNION OBSERVERS WALKING AT POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF E.U. OBSERVER TALKING TO IVORIAN MAN IN POLLING STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE EU OBSERVER DELEGATION, CRISTIAN DAN PREDA, SAYING: "Ivorians are obliged to stay under this sun for three hours or four hours because they want to vote. It's impressive, the atmosphere is very good but unfortunately some polling stations were not opened at time." EU OBSERVERS WALKING IN POLLING STATION COURTYARD
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6JBI8XTUJR3L4SDKGJ5HO8SYF
  • Story Text: The Ivorian president casts his vote in the country's first presidential election in more than a decade - a poll that is meant to reunite Ivory Coast after a civil war eight years ago.
    Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo voted in Abidjan on Sunday (October 31) in the country's first presidential election in more than a decade.
    The poll is meant to reunite Ivory Coast after a 2002-3 war split it in two, with part in the hands of rebels.
    Gbagbo said the elections were a necessary step to move the country forwards.
    "This vote had to take place so that Ivory Coast comes out of the civil war, comes out of the crisis and I am happy today that this vote is going on as normal," he told journalists after casting his vote in the Riviera Golf primary school in Abidjan's leafy neighbourhood of Cocody.
    The race is likely to be close, with no outright winner, and Ivorians are bracing themselves for violence should it be contested, as was seen in its last two presidential polls.
    U.N. officials and foreign powers have been heaping pressure on all candidates to quickly accept the result -- whatever it turns out to be -- and to resist the urge to cry victory early. Gbagbo also called for restraint and calm from candidates and the Ivorian public alike.
    "It's about respecting the law. Ivorian candidates shouldn't show themselves in a bad light by each proclaiming their own results. We have a law which is clear and it's the Independent Electoral Commission which has the ability to proclaim the provisional results. Then it's up to the Constitutional Council which will give out the final results," Gbagbo said.
    European Union observers said the election process was progressing peacefully. But although millions of Ivorians went to to the polls for their first chance in a decade to choose a president, most ended up in long queues outside polling stations.
    "Ivorians are obliged to stay under this sun for three hours or four hours because they want to vote. It's impressive, the atmosphere is very good but unfortunately some polling stations were not opened at time," said EU observer mission head Cristian Dan Preda. He said he had seen no other irregularities so far.
    Virtually no public transport and very few taxis were working in Abidjan, whose streets were dotted with the armoured vehicles of UN peacekeepers posted to strategic positions.
    The roots of Ivory Coast's war and the subsequent political stalemate go back to a dispute over nationality and who is eligible to vote in a country whose lush farm land attracted immigrants from across West Africa.
    If the poll goes smoothly, analysts expect it will unblock foreign investment in construction and telecoms and enable reforms to an ailing cocoa sector that feeds 40 percent of world demand.
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