United States Embassy (Abidjan)
9 August 2007
This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
1. The identification scheme is the major issue in today's Ivoirian newspapers, as the Ivoirian authorities yesterday set up a committee whose role is to see to the implementation of this program designed to provide Ivoirian with "birth certificates".
2. "The Prime Minister hopes that the identification process would enable the organization of upcoming elections," writes the state-owned daily Fraternite Matin. Soro, speaking yesterday to the newspaper during the inauguration of this committee, said: "The presence of all political divides in this working group is to guaranteeing the transparency of the process and to sensitize the different political parties in conformity with the Ouagadougou Agreement."
3. According to the paper, this committee, which will be "chaired by the Prime Minister," was created on June 29 by an order "signed by him". The decision, explained the paper, "outlines the responsibilities, composition, and functioning of the committee on the identification and voters' registration programs."
4. In a front-page story, Le Patriote, a daily close to the opposition RDR party, tells readers that, "Soro's top priority is to successfully complete the identification program and organize of the upcoming elections." Regarding the "modus operandi of how to conduct the identification and the electoral process," the paper suggests, "Soro disagrees with Gbagbo."
5. In a related development, the paper quotes the former UN Special Representative in-charge of Elections in Cote d'Ivoire, as saying, "He [Gbagbo] won't stand for elections, unless he is sure to win them." According to the paper, Gerard Stoudmann "disapproves off" the United Nations' decision suspending the post of its representative in-charge of elections.
6. "No certificate of nationality will be issued during the identification process," L'intelligent d'Abidjan, the privately-owned daily, quotes Soro as saying. The Ivoirian Premier reportedly said: "My mission is to make sure that coming elections are undisputable."
7. As Ivoirian authorities are pushing hard for the beginning of the identification, Le Temps, a daily close to Gbagbo, explains to readers, "How the public hearings will be conducted, how to obtain the certificate of nationality, and who is an Ivoirian." In a two-page in-depth report, the paper outlines measures that have been put in place to "controlling and securing the process."
8. "There won't be elections in December," says a front-page story in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition. The paper comments: "Beyond President Laurent Gbagbo's political calculation to organize upcoming poll by December this year, the volume of works to be done before the poll shows that it's technically impossible to organize the elections."
9. The paper wonders, "How will it be possible to organize elections that respond to international standard, when the problems pertaining to the electoral process, finance of the peace process, identification scheme, dismantlement of the militia groups, and disarmament of the ex-combatants have not yet been resolved."
10. A banner headline that runs across 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, says, "Six after its signing, the Ouagadougou Agreement is suffering from 'Kwashiorkor'." The paper publishes excerpts of the deal outlining "the calendar for its full implementation."
11. In a separate development, L'inter reports that efforts are underway for "a new rapprochement between Cote d'Ivoire and France." According to the privately-owned daily, "President Gbagbo is expected in Paris in October this year to meet French new elected President Nicholas Sarkozy."
12. Finally, a front-page story in Le Nouveau Reveil, says, "Government's hospitals are crippled, as health workers are staging a national strike to press for salary increases."
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