United States Embassy (Abidjan)
10 September 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 nationwide and indefinite strike called by doctors and health workers is again a front-page subject in the press following government call on strikers to resume work today.
2. A front-page story in Fraternite Matin, the state-owned daily says, "The government has decided to get involved in the matter, which brought doctors and health workers to embark on a nationwide strike."
3. In a statement issued after two cabinet meetings over the weekend, reports the paper, "The government wants the suffering of the population to end as soon as possible. It therefore demands all doctors, pharmacists, dentists and veterinaries to resume work on Monday, September 10, 2007 at 7:30 in order to attend to the population."
4. According to the paper, this is the second time in less than a month that doctors and health workers have embarked on a strike following a court decision imposing a provisional administrator to chair the National Union Senior Health Workers (SYNACASS-CI). The paper also informs readers that consumers are planning "to demonstrate today to protest high cost of living in Cote d'Ivoire."
4. In its weekend edition, Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition reported that, "The doctors and health workers' strike took a dramatic turn, when two pregnant women died at the Abidjan Military Hospital, while patients were virtually abandoned in government hospitals in Yamoussoukro and Bouake."
5. While the government is demanding doctors and health workers to resume work today, a front-page story in Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party, quotes leaders of SYNACASS-CI as saying, "No way", and that, "Only a general assembly of the union can decide on whether to end the strike or not."
6. The paper quotes Amichia Magloire, Secretary General of SYNACASS-CI, as saying, "We'll decide on Tuesday [tomorrow]." The paper believes that, "The strike is well-founded," but calls it "an immoral" movement.
7. "Doctors and health workers' strike: The government capitulates," says a front-page story in L'inter. According to the privately-owned daily, "The strikers could soon end their movement, after the secretary general of SYNACASS-CI has been re-established by a court decision." According to the paper, "This decision abrogates the previous one, which suggested the nomination of a provisional administration for SYNACASS-CI."
8. In a related development, Nord-Sud Quotidien, in its today's edition, announces that, "After doctors, nurses are to embark on a strike as from tomorrow." It comments, "The implementation of the Ouagadougou Agreement is being hindered- by workers' industrial actions."
9. In a separate development, Le Matin d'Abidjan, a daily close to President Laurent Gbagbo, says, "The UN is demanding the Ivoirian youth leader, Charles Ble Goude, to pay 11 million Francs CFA, as a condition to lift an international sanction imposed on him."
10. "Koulibaly teaches Houphouetism," says a banner headline that runs across Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI party. Speaking at a rally over the weekend, Mamadou Koulibaly, a leading member of the party, is quoted as saying, "If Felix Houphouët Boigny was still alive, he would be ashamed of his heirs."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 United States Embassy. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
