United States Embassy (Abidjan)
19 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. The controversy over the date of the upcoming elections in Cote d'Ivoire and President Laurent Gbagbo's visit to the north of the country - the first one since the beginning of the political crisis in this West African country - are the major issues in today's Ivoirian newspapers. Dailies also comment on the visit the European commissioner for development and humanitarian affairs Louis Michel to Cote d'Ivoire. Others announce that the Ivoirian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro is expected next Sunday in Ouagadougou, where he will be meeting President Blaise Compaore on the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire.
2. Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party) quotes the Ivoirian opposition figure Alassane Dramane Ouattara as saying: "The elections are possible before October 2008." According to the paper, the leader of the RDR was speaking yesterday in Abidjan after a meeting with former Ivoirian Head of State, Henri Konan Bedie. Discussions between the two leaders focused on the audiences foraines (public identity hearings), identification process, and voters' registration, reports the paper.
3. "Regarding the public identity hearings, we are concerned about the fact that since their launching more than five weeks ago, only 40,000 people have been able to obtain substitute birth certificates... There is a need to increase the number of the teams conducting the exercise, because only 30 teams are now functional out of the 111 recommended by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement," Le Patriote quotes Ouattara as saying. Ouattara, the paper continues, believes that "it's urgent to organize free, transparent and democratic elections in Cote d'Ivoire in order to end the sufferings of Ivoirians."
4. On a visit to Cote d'Ivoire over the weekend, reports Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily), the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs Louis Michel called on the European countries to provide funds to support the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire. After his meeting with President Gbagbo, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, and the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) Robert Beugre Mambe, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Affairs said: "There is a real will to fully implement the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, even if at the operational stage there is some delay."
5. Speaking after a meeting with Gbagbo yesterday, Boureima Badini, the representative of President Blaise Compaore in Cote d'Ivoire, exhorted the international community, donors, and all partners of Cote d'Ivoire to help this country to come out of the crisis, reports Fraternite Matin. In a related development, the paper says that two emissaries of Gbagbo and Soro are currently in the Burkinabe capital "to evaluate" the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. "The emissaries, who arrived in Ouagadougou yesterday, have been working with Burkinabe negotiator Djibril Bassole on issues including the identification scheme," indicates the paper.
6. Soir Info (a privately-owned daily) publishes a statement from the Prime Minister's cabinet announcing that Soro is expected in Ouagadougou next Sunday to participate in the meeting of the Assessment and Support Committee (CEA) [a body whose role is to oversee the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement]. "The purpose of this conclave is to enable the Prime Minister to talk to both sides that signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement in order to sign a Supplementary Accord on the appointment of the technical operator charged with the conduct of the identification program," the paper quotes the statement as saying.
7. Still on the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, a front-page story in L'intelligent d'Abidjan (a privately-owned daily) suggests that "Gbagbo and Soro are no longer speaking with one voice." The disagreement between the two men, reports the paper, has to do with the controversy over the date of the upcoming elections in Cote d'Ivoire. "Hardliners in the presidential camp have noted a lack of real will on the part of Soro when it comes to election-related issues," writes the paper. It also comments: "At the Presidential Palace, it's widely believed that Soro had a hidden agenda when he signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement."
8. From November 26-28, 2007 President Gbagbo will be traveling to the north of Cote d'Ivoire, as part of an official visit, announces Fraternite Matin. The paper publishes a statement issued by Presidential Communication Office saying that "the Head of State will visit Korhogo, Ferkessedougou, Boundiali and Tengrela, where he will meet with traditional leaders."
9. L'inter (a privately-owned daily): A front-page story in the paper says that Ivoirian judges are concerned about their security. Speaking at a press conference, reports the paper, the President of the Ivoirian Bar Association, Justice Claude Mentenon, denounced "the acts of violence" that judges were subjected to a week ago and "corruption" in the Ivoirian judiciary system.
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