United States Embassy (Abidjan)
5 November 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. Comments in Monday's press say political groups in Cote d'Ivoire are divided over a proposal from the New Forces demanding the formation of a new government.
2. "Any decision to reshuffle the government depends only on the President of the Republic," Fraternite Matin quotes Alphonse Djedje Mady, a leading member of the former ruling PDCI-RDA party. Djedje Mady was reacting to a proposal made last week by the New Forces' leadership demanding a cabinet reshuffle.
3. Prior to this government restructure, "Leaders of political parties must be consulted," suggested Philippe Legre of MFA - Mouvement des Forces d'Avenir --, reports the state-owned daily. For Legre, "The Ouagadougou Agreement does not exclude the parties that signed the Marcoussis Accord from the government." After denouncing what he called "dysfunction within the government," a leader of ANCI - Alliance Nouvelle de Cote d'Ivoire, calls for "a cabinet made up of technocrats", reports Fraternite Matin.
4. A front-page story of Soir Info, a privately-owned daily, questions the real intention of the New Forces's leadership when it called for a new government. According to the paper, the announcement made last Friday by the spokesperson of the former rebel movement could be seen as "a test", whose objective is "to prepare the mood" before the cabinet reshuffle.
5. In the perspective of this shake-up, comments Soir Info, the New Forces may demand President Laurent Gbagbo "to get rid of representatives of the opposition groups" serving in the current administration, and to form a small cabinet that would be composed of "members of the New Forces and the presidential camp." However, Soir Info quickly suggests that this new arrangement could trigger "unhappiness" within the RHDP - a coalition of four leading opposition parties in Cote d'Ivoire.
6. In the wake of the New Forces' intention to change the Ivoirian transitional government, which was formed after the Ouagadougou Agreement, L'inter, another privately-owned daily, says that "Soro wants to eject the RHDP from the government." The paper questions whether the accord signed nine months ago between Gbagbo and Soro gives the two signatories the power to change ministers.
7. According to L'inter, "There is no clear section in the Ouagadougou Agreement that makes it compulsory for parties that signed the deal to rule with parties that signed the Marcoussis Agreement." However, according to L'inter, "the Ouagadougou Agreement recommends that the signatories work together with other political forces - in a spirit of permanent consultation - in order to achieving the reunification of Cote d'Ivoire, disarmament, and the organization of open, transparent and democratic elections, as it was enshrined in the previous accords and resolutions aimed at resolving the crisis."
8. Reacting to the controversy over New Forces' demand for a cabinet reshuffle, the prime minister's spokesperson, told 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, that "Soro was not aware of any plan to restructure the government."
9. A front-page story in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, says, "Relations between the Ivoirian prime minister and the G7 - a coalition of opposition parties and the New Forces - is strained, as Soro believes that his former allies betrayed him."
10. In another development, Fraternite Matin tells readers that after his announcement to suspend the residence permit required for foreigners living in Cote d'Ivoire, Gbagbo has set up a committee to work on the issue. The committee is tasked to evaluate "the financial and social impact of the residence permit." The paper said, following findings, the commission would come up with proposals to be submitted to the president.
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