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Côte d'Ivoire: American Embassy's National Daily Press Review


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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

11 December 2007
Posted to the web 11 December 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. Normalization of relations between Cote d'Ivoire and France as well as some international institutions, including the United Nations and the World Bank, dominated the press today. The press also reported on the Ivorian government's delay regarding the country's income tax reform; the signing of the new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs); and the country's judiciary and education systems.

2. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): The paper carried a happy picture of President Laurent Gbagbo on his return yesterday from Lisbon, Portugal, where he attended the EU-Africa Summit on democracy and free trade. According to the paper, Gbagbo, told reporters, "I'm happy to have participated in this gathering. Relations with the UN, France and World Bank are being normalized."

3. In Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI party), a banner headline quoted Gbagbo as saying: "Our relations with France are normalizing."

4. Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party), on the other hand, made critical comments on the talks between the Ivorian president and his French counterpart, President Nicolas Sarkozy during the EU-Africa Summit. The paper denounced what it refers to as "the two faces of Gbagbo," and questioned the sincerity of the Ivorian leader's remarks. The paper further said, "His (Gbagbo's) rhetoric depends on whether he is speaking at home or outside side." According to the paper, during his meeting with President Sarkozy, "Gbagbo dissociated himself from his partisans and his wife, who have been waging a campaign to demand the departure of the Licorne - French troops in Cote d'Ivoire - from the country."

5. The other major news in today's Ivorian press was the government's decision to delay a plan aimed at reforming the income tax. Fraternite Matin, which devoted two pages to this issue, quoted the Director General of Income Revenue Service, Feh Kesse as saying: "The Income Revenue Service is to suggest to the government, in the framework of the 2008 budget, to defer from January 2008 to January 2009 the income tax's reform."

6. The delay, explained Feh Kesse would enable the government to redress what he called "some irregularities," including "the difficult situation of certain workers," reports Fraternite Matin. The Director General of the Income Revenue Service also said his institution needs time to install some computer programs that will be used in connection with this reform.

7. In a related development, L'intelligent d'Abidjan (a privately-owned daily) said that the Ivorian opposition figure, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, supports the government after Cote d'Ivoire and the European Commission signed last Friday an "interim deal" on the new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The interim agreement allows compatible products to get access to markets under the rules set forth by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the provisions pertaining to cooperation and development. According to the paper, Ouattara said, "I think it was a good decision, though all members of the Economic Community of West African States did not adhere to it. But Cote d'Ivoire has some interests."

8. Still on the same issue, the European Commissioner, Louis Michel, is quoted by Fraternite Matin as saying that the new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) were designed to avoid "catastrophe." The paper quoted the Commissioner as saying, "If this agreement was not signed by the end this year with Cote d'Ivoire, the country would lose 459 billion Francs CFA (about one billion US dollars) representing turnovers to be obtained from commercial exchanges."

9. The state of the Ivorian judiciary system was a front-page story in Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the opposition). The paper published an interview in which the President of Cote d'Ivoire Magistrates Union, Kpa Omele Mathias denounced "corruption in the country's judiciary system."

Relevant Links

West Africa
Côte d'Ivoire
Press and Media

10. In the same paper, Nord-Sud Quotidien, Boni Claverie, the leader of the Union Republicaine pour la Democartie (URD) - a party close to the ruling FPI - expressed concerns about recent results in the Ivorian education system. According to the paper, Claverie said, "The low success rates in schools and universities, as compared to results in neighboring countries, during the past few years, show that the performance of our education system is poor."


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