United States Embassy (Abidjan)
28 January 2008
This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Speculations on the change in date for the presidential elections; the cantonment of the ex-combatants, the disarmament of militia groups; as well as the launching of electric power lines between Cote d'Ivoire and Mali were featured in today's newspapers.
1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): In a front-page story, the paper quoted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as saying, "It is not serious if the presidential elections are pushed back by a month or two." Kouchner reported the paper, was speaking yesterday in Ouagadougou, after talks with the Burkinabe leader, Blaise Compaore, who is also the facilitator in the Ivorian peace process. The French diplomat explained that "technical obstacles," which have been noted constitute the main reason for this delay. Elaborating on these "obstacles," the French Foreign Minister said: "People came of age since the establishment of last voters' register" that was used during the 2000 polls.
2. In a long interview with Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA), the French Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Andre Janier, reportedly said that there is a need to organize "quickly" the upcoming elections, but they should not be organized under "any condition."
3. Meanwhile, 24 Heures (a daily close to the opposition), commented that the CPC - a committee of Ivorian political stakeholders overseeing the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement - was aware that it was "impossible" to hold elections in June in Cote d'Ivoire. The paper further commented that since 2005, the issue regarding the organization of presidential elections has become "an octopus exercise" in Cote d'Ivoire and wondered why the CPC tried to "hide the truth from the people." [Reminder - last Friday, the Press Review carried media reports on a meeting held in Ouagadougou, where political stakeholders - President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Soro Guillaume, the Ivorian former President Henri Konan Bedie and the Ivorian opposition figure, Alassane Dramane Ouattara - reportedly agreed to reduce the deadlines of several operations, including expediting the publication of the voters' rolls from three months to one month and to begin, and the urgent completion of the identification and the registration of prospective voters on the electoral lists, so that elections can take place in June.]
4. On the front-page of Fraternite Matin, the Ivorian Defense Minister, Michel Amani N'Guessan, called upon the New Forces to quickly proceed to the "cantonment" of the soldiers. The paper recalled that the program aimed at regrouping former belligerents was launched on December 22, 2007. Almost a month after the scheme got underway, "the forces of defense and security [government forces] have successfully completed the cantonment of their soldiers," reported the state-owned daily. "While government forces respected the operational there is a status quo on the side of the New Forces," noted the paper. This, according to the paper, prompted the Ivorian Defense Minister, who was speaking last week, to express "concerns" about this state of affair. N'Guessan, reported the paper, used the occasion "to call upon the FAFN - New Forces Armed Forces - to quickly and fully apply the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, given the fact that conditions for their cantonment was agreed upon by consensus."
5. In a related development, the Coordinator of the disarmament program, Ouattara Daniel, in an interview, with Fraternite Matin said that "a program has been designed for the disarmament of the militia groups who fought alongside the government forces. This program mostly concerns groups based in the west of the country. Others will be systematically dismantled; most are youths who need to be cared for. The Integrated Command Center - a joint unit composed of government forces and New Forces - has been tasked to identify, to register and to disarm them."
6. In a separate development, Fraternite Matin reported that President Gbagbo and his Malian counterpart, Amadou Toumani Toure, launched construction of a power line in the northern city of Ferkessedougou on Saturday. According to the paper, the multi-billion-India-sponsored project will help export power to neighboring Mali. Speaking during the ceremony, Gbagbo urged his peers in the West African region to come out with "a common power policy" in order to ensuring a lasting economic development in the region.
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