United States Embassy (Abidjan)
1 October 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. News reports say pre-electoral campaign has got momentum in Cote d'Ivoire, while the country's authorities are pushing hard to organize forthcoming presidential designed to resolve a five-year old political crisis in this country. Meanwhile, other reports say there are disagreements between the Ivoirian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro and the Interior Minister, Desire Tagro over how the public identity hearings, which officially kicked off on September 25, 2007, should be conducted.
2. "Tagro blocks the public identity hearings," says a banner headline carried by Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition. The paper allegedly accuses the interior minister of being responsible of "the delay in the redeployment of the sub-prefects," whose role in the public identity hearings is "important".
3. According to the paper, a total of "296 sub-prefects should be deployed as part of a vast program designed to re-establishing government administration throughout the country." "Up to now, the minister has not yet decided when the redeployment should start," reports paper, which believes that, "This delay could hold back the conduct of the public identity hearings."
4. Still on the same issue, 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, says, "Tagro sabotages Soro's plan." "The public identity hearings, which started on September 25, could be halted due to the absence of the sub-prefects on the ground," warns the paper. It says, the interior minister, who cited "security reasons" refused to deploy sub-prefects in "New Forces-controlled zones".
5. L'inter, a privately-owned daily, wonders whether the minister's decision is "an act of defiance or a way to delay the peace process." Citing insiders within the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, the paper discloses that, "Soro is to find a way out of this problem."
6. As Ivoirian political parties are fully involved in a pre-electoral campaign in the run-up to the upcoming elections, Le Font, a daily close to the New Forces calls the opposition groups' campaign strategy "a hurricane." According to the paper, recent political meetings, which were organized by Henri Konan Bedie former Ivoirian president and leader of the former ruling PDCI-RDA and Alassane Dramane Ouattara president of the opposition RDR party, was to show that "they are the most popular parties on the ground."
7. In a front-page story Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI party, accuses Ouattara of masterminding what it calls "a brainwashing campaign," ahead of the coming elections.
8. Notre Voie indicates that an Ivoirian daily newspaper published over the weekend results of an opinion poll saying, "Ouattara is persuaded that... he can beat Gbagbo during the second round with 53% of the ballots cast." The paper describes this opinion poll as "a cheap propaganda," whose aim is to put "a psychological pressure on the populations to present Ouattara as the most serious candidate."
9. But Ouattara, who was addressing a rally over the weekend in Anyama, a suburb of Abidjan, is, once again quoted by L'intelligent d'Abidjan, as saying, "I'll be president. Gbagbo and Bedie are aware of it."
10. According to the privately-owned daily, "The Ivoirian opposition figure flew yesterday to Burkina Faso, where he held talks with President Blaise Compaore, who is the facilitator in the inter-Ivoirian dialogue."
11. Meanwhile, President Laurent Gbagbo is "hopeful" that his country is "coming out of the crisis," reports Fraternite Matin, the state-owned daily. "The crisis helps rebuild a new Ivoirian Nation," Gbagbo is reported as saying.
12. According to the paper, the UN Secretary General is to choose between two South Korean diplomats as the head of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI). Citing reliable sources, the paper suggests, the name of the UN's boss in Cote d'Ivoire may be announced "today." It also indicates that "the decision by Ban Ki-Moon to nominate a diplomat from his own country has finally put an end to the debate over who should succeed the ex-UN Special Representative in Cote d'Ivoire, Pierre Schori."
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