allAfrica.com: Côte d'Ivoire: American Embassy's National Daily Press Review (Page 1 of 1)

This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Today's Ivorian newspapers reported on the meeting Monday between Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and U.S. Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire Wanda L. Nesbitt. The announcement yesterday by the Ivorian government of the date of upcoming presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire was another major issue in today's newspapers. Papers also carried reactions following the government's decision to set the first round of the long-delayed polls for November 30.

1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): The paper briefly reported that Gbagbo's visit at the end of this week to the United States to attend the UN Security Council meeting in New York was high on the agenda when Ambassador Nesbitt met with him yesterday at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan. "We talked about issues that will be addressed at the UN Security Council," the paper quoted Nesbitt as saying. According to the paper, discussions between the Ivorian Head of State and the U.S. Ambassador also focused on the peace process, especially the Council of Ministers meeting held yesterday in connection with the preparations of forthcoming elections in Cote d'Ivoire.

2. "The date of the presidential elections is finally set," said a banner headline that ran across Fraternite Matin. The decision, reported the paper, was taken after an "emergency cabinet meeting" yesterday in Abidjan following a proposal from the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). The conclave also addressed issues pertaining to "the role of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the National Statistics Institute and SAGEM - a French group tasked to conduct the identification of the Ivorian population in the perspective of the coming elections," reported the paper.

3. In a related development, Fraternite Matin quoted the Government Spokesperson, Amadou Kone, as saying, "The presidential polls will not be combined with the parliamentary elections." "We have fixed the date of the presidential elections. We have not talked about the parliamentary elections, therefore the presidential polls won't be combined with the legislative ones," Kone reportedly said.

4. Reacting to the event, Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro called this announcement "a turning point in the peace process." "For some time now, we've been working to reach a consensus on the elections. This consensus has become possible thanks to the decrees that have been adopted today [April 14]. For us, this is a sign of satisfaction that puts Cote d'Ivoire on the way to elections," Soro was quoted as saying. While the Rally of the Republicans (RDR), the party of the Ivorian opposition figure Alassane Dramane Ouattara, called the decision "an important step," the New Forces ensured the people of Cote d'Ivoire that "the elections are irreversible," reported Fraternite Matin.

5. Reactions to this decision from other political groups are subject of a front-page story in Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party). Affi N'Guessan, the Chairman of the ruling FPI party, was quoted as saying: "We're satisfied with this decision," while Alphonse Djedje Mady, a cadre of the PDCI-RDA party, called for "the respect of this deadline." Meanwhile, the leader of the UDPCI, the party of erstwhile military leader General Robert Guei, believed that this decision confirmed that the peace process is on "track."

6. Commenting on the Ivorian government's decision to hold the presidential elections on November 30 this year, Le Nouveau Reveil claimed that this was "a defeat" for President Gbagbo, because the Ivorian leader "finally decided to move forward following pressure from the international community." "Now that the cloud that was hanging over the polls has been dissipated, Ivorians are hopeful of seeing the end of the tunnel that would also mark the end of their daily suffering," commented the paper.

7. In the wake of the government's decision, Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI) wondered whether the presidential elections would be held on November 30 according to plan. It went on arguing that the eight months ahead before the polls are likely to become another opportunity for "confusion, insubordination and endless racketeering," in Cote d'Ivoire.

8. Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party): The paper quoted Alassane Dramane Ouattara, the leader of the RDR, as saying that his party will "respect the verdict of the votes" if they are "transparent." Ouattara, reported the paper, was speaking after a meeting yesterday with the Ivorian Roman Catholic Clerics in Abidjan. In a separate story, the First Lady, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, proposed that the disarmament program should be completed before the elections, reported the paper.

9. While many observers here see the forthcoming presidential elections as a key step to restoring peace, the chairman of a civic campaigning group suggested that "the elections alone cannot resolve the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire," reported L'inter (a privately-owned daily). Patrick N'Gouan, who was speaking in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, after a meeting with the facilitator in the Ivorian peace process, suggested that alongside the coming elections, there is a need to find solutions to some "thorny issues including rural land ownership, migration, population identification, the electoral laws and the responsibility of the army during the electoral process."

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