United States Embassy (Abidjan)
20 November 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.
News reports in today's press in Cote d'Ivoire said that President Blaise Compare - facilitator in the Ivorian peace process - has proposed a new date for the Ivorian presidential elections. The conflict between the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and voter registration agents over payments; the disarmament of former rebels; media reactions after President Laurent Gbagbo vowed to fight economic saboteurs and a warning from a senior law professor against discrimination in the issuance of the Ivorian new passport also made headlines in today's newspapers. The dailies also reported that the Ivorian First Lady had lodged a defamation complaint against a witness for implicating her in the disappearance of the French-Canadian journalist, Guy-Andre Kieffer. Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) today reported on the Ambassador Wanda L. Nesbitt's visit Tuesday to the Port of Abidjan.
1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): In a prominent story, the paper quoted Blaise Compare - facilitator in the Ivorian peace process saying that "it's possible to hold the Ivorian presidential elections before April 2009." President Compaore was speaking yesterday in Paris after a meeting with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. "I think that the electoral process is going well...," President reportedly said, adding: "The fundamental issue in this crisis is the question of identification (of voters). Reliable and effective mechanisms have been put in place to facilitate this identification. For technical reasons the process is taking more time than originally planned, but I think we have to be confident that the elections will be transparent and fair."
2. Still on the electoral process, Fraternite Matin reported that voter registration program is again disrupted, because registration agents have been on strike for the past two days demanding the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) to review a working contract they claimed they signed "under pressure." Reacting to this protest, the Chairman of CEI Robert Beugre Mambe said "it's unacceptable that registration agents, who have accepted to sign a contract, are now disrupting the process."
3. In other developments, Fraternite Matin reported that 400 former fighters of the New Forces received the items for their reintegration on Wednesday. L'inter (an independent daily) quoted Kone Zackaria, a former New Forces' military commander, who accused the New Forces leader-turned Prime Minister Guillaume Soro for "betraying their struggle." According to the paper, the former warlord is now living in exile in Burkina Faso, vowed: "Sooner or later, I'll come back."
4. A day after President Laurent Gbagbo vowed to crack down on "economic saboteurs," Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party) carried a banner headline questioning the president's sincerity to fight corruption in Cote d'Ivoire. The paper alleged that under President Gbagbo's regime "former lecturers have become billionaires." It further suggested that for the president to demonstrate his "good will" to fight corruption, he must arrest what the paper called "a conglomerate of predators, formerly simple professors, who have now amassed wealth and are moving around in the most expensive vehicles."
5. Still on the issue of corruption and President Gbagbo's decision to fight corruption, Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) said that after the arrest of top officials in the cocoa and coffee industry for embezzlement, it is possible that officials working in sectors including petrol, mining and gas be charged for mismanagement. The paper also suggested that President Gbagbo's decision came following pressure from international donors including the World Bank and IMF.
6. Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the opposition): The paper published the opinion of Ouraga Obou, an Ivorian senior law professor, who warned Cote d'Ivoire authorities to guard against any discrimination in the issuance of the new Ivorian passport. According to the paper, the law professor was reacting to allegations that some Ivorians applying for the biometric passport were subject to discrimination.
7. Regarding the case of the French-Canadian journalist, Guy-Andre Kieffer, a story in Fraternite Matin said that Cote d'Ivoire's First Lady Simone Gbagbo is demanding the repatriation of Berte Seydou, an Ivorian national living in France, who reportedly made "untrue declarations to a French judge implicating Madam Gbagbo in the disappearance of the journalist." According to the paper, this was announced yesterday Abidjan during a press conference by the lawyer of the Ivorian First Lady. The lawyer was also reported as saying that he will lodge a defamation complaint against AFP - Agence France Presse - for reporting inaccurate information. [NOTE: Guy-Andre Kieffer, 59, disappeared in Cote d'Ivoire in 2004 while researching a story on corruption in the West African state's cocoa industry. He has never been found, but it is reported that French investigators believe he was abducted and murdered on the orders of powerful business interests.]
MEDIA REACTION TO U.S. AND OTHER WORLD ISSUES
Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) today reported on U.S. Ambassador Wanda L. Nesbitt's visit Tuesday to the Abidjan Port. The paper quoted Ambassador Nesbitt as saying: "We are trying to understand the daily life of Ivorians and we thought it was necessary to visit the port which is an important engine for Ivorian economy and to see how it is functioning."
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