United States Embassy (Abidjan)
15 September 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.
Today's media reports said that Cote d'Ivoire's First Lady, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo called for the review of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement signed in March 2007 between the President Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro. Papers also reported on reactions over President Gbagbo's proposed a new date for presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire. The dailies also informed readers that the long awaited population identification process will begin today.
1. L'intelligent d'Abidjan (a privately-owned daily): This paper carried on its front-page a picture of the Ivorian First Lady, quoting her: "We need to review the Ouagadougou Political Agreement." According to the paper, Mrs. Gbagbo made this statement yesterday when she addressed a political rally in the central city of Bouake - former stronghold of the New Forces, where she also told the gathering "we'll meet Guillaume Soro [the Ivorian Prime Minister and leader of the New Forces] once we get back to Abidjan to work out a plan in the connection with the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement."
2. The First Lady was also a subject of a prominent story in Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily). In a front-page story, the paper said that Mrs Gbagbo has proposed "a new pact" with the New Forces "to speed up the peace process" underway. As in the other reports, the paper repeated the First Lady's mention that "there is a need to review the Ouagadougou Political Agreement in order to find solutions that suit our pockets, our budget." In a separate story, the paper quoted the First Lady's comments on the Young Patriots [a movement supportive of President Gbagbo]. She said, "I salute the Patriots of Cote d'Ivoire," adding: "Those who criticized the Patriots were those do not love Cote d'Ivoire..."
3. In a separate story, Fraternite Matin also informed readers that the population identification process will begin, today; it will be launched by President Gbagbo and his Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro. According to the paper, the population identification operation is a "crucial stage" in the ongoing electoral process, because it will allow for the establishment of voters' register, which will be used to issue identity cards for potential voters in the coming presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire. According to the paper, the announcement was made over the weekend by the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the body tasked to conduct the polls. The paper further published the full text of a public statement referring to the beginning of the identification process. In a related development, L'inter (an independent daily) announced that the voters' rolls will be published on November 15, 2008.
4. President Gbagbo's announcement that the first round of the presidential elections will be held on 30 November or 15 December this year was a subject of a prominent story in Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the opposition). The paper noted that through this proposal, the Ivorian leader has rejected the bills from the electoral body on the date of the polls. The paper went on to quote one of the vice-presidents of the electoral commission who said: "We [the Independent Electoral Commission] have not yet made any proposal regarding the date of the polls."
5. Commenting on President Gbagbo's decision to delay the presidential elections to 15 December this year, Le Jour Plus (a daily close to the opposition) said that the Ivorian president has again taken his opponents by surprise. Talking about the presidential hopefuls in the run-up to the forthcoming presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire, the paper informed readers that the Ivorian former Army Chief, General Mathias Doue, has announced his intention to run for presidency.
6. Today's Ivorian papers also talked about Lieutenant Colonel Oulatta Gahoudit Pierre, a former Ivorian military, who denied allegations against him for plotting to overthrow the regime in Cote d'Ivoire. According to Soir Info (an independent daily), Lieutenant Colonel Oulatta was trained in the United States.
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