United States Embassy (Abidjan)
23 October 2009
This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Reports in today's Ivorian press said that the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) called Thursday for the publication of the electoral lists in a bid to build momentum towards holding the long-delayed presidential elections slated for November 29, 2009. The dailies also talked about the situation of the former combatants of the New Forces. The case of some top Ivorian officials jailed for their presumed implication in a financial scandal that engulfed the Ivorian cocoa and coffee industry and an attack on an opposition newspaper by a group of students were the other major stories in the press.
1. A prominent report in the state-owned daily Fraternite Matin said that U.N. Secretary-General Special Representative in Cote d'Ivoire Young-Jin Choi called for the immediate publication of the voter lists. Mr. Choi, who met yesterday with the President of neighboring Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, Facilitator of the Ivorian dialogue, also called for honoring the electoral timetable, the report said. According to the paper, the top United Nations envoy to Cote d'Ivoire further called on the stakeholders to build momentum towards holding the long-delayed presidential elections slated for November 29, 2009. Mr. Choi, the paper added, also highlighted the challenges which remain, especially the publication of the provisional electoral lists, and underscored the urgent need to find a compromise on the issue.
2. Notre Heure (a daily close to the opposition) quoted a statement issued Thursday by the Convention of Cote d'Ivoire's Civil Society (CSCI) denouncing the way the data concerning more than 2.75 million people who had been registered during the identification and voter registration process are being processed. Reporting on the same issue, L'Expression (a daily close to the opposition) said that the Ivorian civil society group is calling for the publication of the electoral lists.
3. Receiving a delegation of supporters yesterday, the Ivorian First Lady, who is also a leading member of the ruling FPI party, announced that "the presidential elections will be delayed," said a report in Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the Prime Minister). Mrs. Simone Gbagbo, however, assured the party's supporters that "there has been significant progress, and the electoral process is not deadlocked."
4. In another development, Nord-Sud Quotidien reported that 20 former New Forces' combatants have been demobilized in the northern city of Korhogo. The paper attributed the information to New Forces' military Commander Fofie Kouakou Martin. With more on the future of the New Forces' military leaders, the paper carried another story explaining how the former warlords are preparing to fit into a new society after the up-coming presidential elections. According to the paper, under the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, some 5,000 former fighters will join Cote d'Ivoire's new army as volunteers; while others will return to normal life thanks to UNOCI-supported micro projects.
5. On the case of some top Ivorian officials jailed for their presumed implication in a financial scandal that engulfed the Ivorian cocoa and coffee industry, a prominent story in L'inter (an independent daily) said that some of the defendants refused to appear before the judge investigating the case. According to the paper, lawyers for the defendants, including Henri Amouzou, President of the Cocoa and Coffee Development and Marketing Fund, have also decided to withdraw from the case to protest against the illegal detention of their clients.
6. Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) today announced that a group of students yesterday ransacked their offices. According to the report, the attack was led by people believed to be members of UNESCI (Union Nationale Estudiantine et Scolaire de Cote d'Ivoire) - an Ivorian student association - to protest against what they called "an insulting" story carried in a previous edition of the paper. The paper also noted that the attack came two days before the date set for a meeting between the leader of the PDCI-RDA party and candidate in the up-coming presidential elections, Henri Konan Bedie, and the students.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 United States Embassy. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
