United States Embassy (Abidjan)
14 April 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.
The date of the upcoming presidential elections and campaigning ahead of the polls in Cote d'Ivoire are the major issues in today's Ivorian newspapers.
1. A banner headline that ran across Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily) said: "General elections: State and SAGEM are to sign a final agreement today." According to the paper, "the consensus on this agreement," between the government of Cote d'Ivoire and SAGEM - the French group that has been tasked to conduct the identification of the population ahead of the forthcoming elections - was reached over the weekend during protracted meetings called by the Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro. In connection with this agreement, the Ivorian Interior Minister has to present a bill on "the mechanisms aimed at controlling and validating the identification of the population," reported the paper.
2. The meeting, which brought together Ivorian political stakeholders, officials from the cabinets of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, the Head of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire, the Representative of the Facilitator - President Blaise Compaore -- and members of the Independent Electoral Commission, offered the opportunity to review "three bills that are fundamental for the electoral process," reported the paper. In a separate story, Fraternite Matin quoted Soro as saying "We don't envisage organizing elections beyond 2008. This would be untenable." Soro, reported the paper, was speaking after a meeting with the former Ivorian President and leader of the PDCI-RDA party, Henri Konan Bedie.
3. A prominent item on the front-page of Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party) said that the government will announce the date of the upcoming presidential elections "today." "We'll work in order to organize the elections in 2008," the paper further quoted Soro as saying after his meeting with Bedie.
4. "The official and final date for the polls will be announced today," said a front-page story carried by L'intelligent d'Abidjan (a privately-owned daily). In a commentary, the paper believed that the announcement of this date would rekindle "hopes" among Ivorians and that all Ivorian political key players would "spare no effort" to resolve the political stalemate in Cote d'Ivoire. The paper further suggested that there is a need to "warn" anybody who would be engaged in "activities that could derail the peace process."
5. As the speculations over the date of the Ivorian elections rage on, Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) told readers that President Gbagbo, Soro and the Independent Electoral Commission "agreed to hold the polls in October this year." According to the paper, the consensus on the date of the coming elections was made possible following "pressure from the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon."
6. Le Jour Plus (a daily close to the opposition): The paper carried a prominent story claiming that the Ouagadougou Political Agreement has "failed" and that "the UN is now taking charge of the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire." However, commented the paper, Gbagbo is "maneuvering" to reverse this state of affairs.
7. While Ivorians are waiting to know the "final date" of the upcoming presidential elections, Nuit et Jour (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) told readers that "Gbagbo's electoral machinery is gaining ground." Notre Voie (a daily also close to the FPI party) carried a prominent item reading "Gbagbo won the sympathy of the Senoufos [the ethnic group of the Ivorian Prime Minister]," as the Chairman of the ruling party toured the northern regions in Cote d'Ivoire. Speaking at a political rally in Daoukro [hometown of the ex-Ivorian President Henri Konan Bedie], the Ivorian First Lady, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, said: "The time of PDCI is over," reported Notre Voie.
8. Finally, Fraternite Matin announced that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will embark on a four-nation tour of West Africa that will take him to Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire on April 19-24. According to the paper, this visit will focus on the UN's efforts to consolidate peace in the region and on development issues. During his final stop in Abidjan, the UN Secretary General will have meetings with Gbagbo, Soro, opposition leaders and civil society.
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