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 Ivorian electoral process, especially the voter's register to be used during the October 31 presidential elections, is the subject of prominent stories in today's Ivorian press. The dailies also report on the ongoing disarmament process, calls for lifting the UN arms embargo on Cote d'Ivoire and Ivorian-French bilateral relations.

1. A few days after the legal contentions on the provisional electoral lists officially finished, Le Nouveau Courrier (a daily close to the ruling FPI) carries a prominent headline questioning "the credibility" of the voter's register. The paper also says that the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) is currently working to establish the final voter's register, but points out that, given the circumstances surrounding the just-ended electoral contentions, the final voter's lists in the making are poised to spark controversy. According to the paper, a lot of demands for names to be removed or restored on the voter's lists were ignored, and the process itself was marred by dysfunction in many constituencies.

2. In a related development, Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the opposition RDR party) quotes an aide to President Laurent Gbagbo as saying: "The votes will take place, but not with the list of the CEI." According to the paper, Zahiri Ziki, the president's adviser on population identification issues, who was speaking Tuesday in Abidjan during a conference, also announced political "upheavals" that, he reportedly said, "won't prevent the elections from taking place on October 31."

3. With more on the voter's register, a report in L'inter (an independent daily) says that the Ivorian civil society has denounced the non-respect of the modus operandi during the judicial process on the provisional electoral lists. According to the paper, this was made public yesterday during a press conference organized by the Ivorian civil society to present a report carried out by its observation mission on the ground. The paper quotes the report as saying that in the central city of Divo, for instance, 1,829 names were stricken off the voter's lists without taking into consideration the decisions of the electoral commission. The report also mentions other areas, such Abengourou (eastern), Man (west) and many other regions where the process was either disrupted or halted as a result of misunderstandings. The report, the paper further says, recommends that the electoral body should take every means possible to correct these mistakes in order to design a final and reliable voter's list.

4. L'inter also carries another report drawing lessons from the just-ended legal procedures designed to figure out who is qualified or not to vote in Cote d'Ivoire. While the paper expresses delight that, despite some problems, the process ended without a major disaster, it also notes that the process has showed that the question of who is an Ivorian and who is not remains a concern in Cote d'Ivoire. The paper also notes that the process has again brought to light the controversy over the Ivorian nationality issue. It however hails the country's judiciary system, the overseer of the exercise, for not having fallen into what it sees as "a vicious test" into which the country's political leaders tried to throw it. The paper further suggests that this was made possible because the judges sitting on the cases relating to the voter's list contentions preferred to throw into dustbin some demands to remove names that did not conform to the procedure.

5. Under a prominent headline that says "Guillaume Soro ruins Gbagbo and the FPI," Le Jour Plus (a daily close to the opposition) welcomes the successful completion of the judicial procedures on the voter's list. According to the paper, this was made possible thanks to the Prime Minister's leadership, who, the paper says, has reaffirmed his authority on all the electoral process. Another headline in this paper says that the prevailing political atmosphere is favorable for elections, quoting the leadership of the New Forces that welcomed the fact that the financial problems, which could hold back the electoral process, have been resolved. In the same vein, Soir Info (an independent daily) quotes Gal Soumaila Bakayoko, the Commander of the New Forces Armed Forces, as saying that "October 31 will be a reality." The state-owned daily Fraternite Matin puts similar words into the mouth of a top aide to the Prime Minister who said: "October 31 is tenable."

6. In another development, Fraternite Matin reports that a top Ivorian army officer Tuesday denounced the lack of equipment that is undermining the work of the country's defense and security forces. Gal Edouard Kassarate, the head of the gendarmerie, was speaking at a ceremony in Abidjan, where he called on the United Nations and the international community "to lift immediately" the arms embargo that has been "unjustly" imposed on Cote d'ivoire.

7. The other major issue in Fraternite Matin is however the relations between Cote d'Ivoire and France, its former colonial master. With a picture of President Laurent Gbagbo and French Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire Jean Marc Simon cutting the ribbon to reopen a French school that was destroyed during political violence in this country, the paper quotes the Ivorian leader as saying: "I want our relations to be built on a solid foundation." However, Le Nouveau Reveil denounces "incoherence" in the president's speech when it comes to relations between the two countries. The paper also quotes the French Ambassador as saying that "Once the peace process is effective, we'll establish a normal relation between France and Cote d'Ivoire."