IVORY COAST: President Laurent Gbagbo says presidential election must be held in 2009

Record ID: 181923

  • Title: IVORY COAST: President Laurent Gbagbo says presidential election must be held in 2009
  • Date: 11th October 2009
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
  • Embargoed: 26th October 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1N9YF88JHYTY9D8XWNM6AHYCO
  • Story Text: An Ivory Coast presidential election must take place this year, President Laurent Gbagbo said on Tuesday (October 6) in a switch of wording from previous statements, insisting that a target Nov. 29 date be maintained.
    "Presidential elections must take place in 2009. We can do it and we must do it, for Ivory Coast and for Africa," Gbagbo said, speaking after discussions with senior Ivorian officials at a ceremony to hand over provisional voter lists for the long-delayed poll.
    Presidential elections in the world's top cocoa supplier -- still scarred by a 2002-03 civil war that divided the country in two -- have been delayed repeatedly for four years in a tortuous peace process
    "What is essential for us is not to just hold elections, but to hold elections in peace," said the president in an address to a news conference.
    Analysts consider a successful poll crucial for the West African country to reclaim its pre-civil war spot as one of region's most vibrant economies and stable nations, adding that many of the reforms needed to improve its declining cocoa sector also hinge on the vote taking place.
    One of the main contentious issues was that of identity. Questions of identity and who is eligible to vote were central to the arguments that northern rebels used to justify their 2002 uprising, which has left the nation divided since then.
    But the government maintains that progress has been made on that issue, and that they are working hard to weed out those who don't belong on the list.
    "I am saying that this list has many Ivorians, 43 per cent of those on this list are Ivorians. But there are also a lot of impostors. We have to make sure that. This is because our fight as the FPI is to ensure that all of those who are entitled to be on the list are in fact there, but all those who should not be there, then shouldn't be on the list, that is what we are fighting for," added Gbagbo.
    In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 25, Gbagbo had said the Nov. 29 date was firmly fixed.
    As polls inch closer, post-election concerns are emerging.
    A second round, probably between Gbagbo and main opposition candidate Alassane Outtara, is seen as the most likely with the least volatile outcome, analysts say.
    However, all sides are already starting to look seriously at post-election deal-making so the prospects of a broad-based coalition emerging from the poll cannot be ruled out.
    The New Forces (FN) rebels remain an unknown quantity, with divisions rife and various commanders are seeking different outcomes, ranging from cash pay-offs to legal immunity, from the process.
    The rebels themselves have been left in charge of their own disarmament while factions are reportedly rearming, leaving the United Nations (U.N.) and French forces little hold over the military situation.
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