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afrol.com, 24 October - The Ivorian Minister of Home Affairs declared General Guei the winner of the presidential election with 52.72% of the vote. As the National Electoral Commission (CNE) was ordered to stop its public count, gave Mr Gbagbo 51.35% of the vote compared to 40.4% for General Guei. The real winner, however, is the boycotting opposition, managing to get 52,5 to 65% of the voters to abstain, depending the sources. After Guei was declared a winner, Laurent Gbagbo stated a news conference that the results were fraudulent and therefore, "from this moment, I am the head of state of Ivory Coast." He continued asking all patriots of all towns and the countryside to take to the streets until Guei backs down." There have been unrests in the streets of Abidjan since the military refused the leader of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to continue to publish the votes as they were counted. CNE chairman Honore Guié was ordered to leave his office by a group of soldiers. Witnesses said there was a ruckus when some of his staff tried to follow him, with the soldiers preventing them, PANA reports from Abidjan. The CNE has now been dissolved. The count showed over 51% of the votes going to Gbagbe when their public announcement was stopped. 8% of the votes had then been counted and Gbagbo was increasing his lead. "As far as we can tell, the government has cut off communication with everyone and seems to be trying to find a way to nullify the elections," said one diplomat to the Washington Post. Earlier in the day Laurent Gbagbo, leader of the Ivorian Popular Front, claimed victory, saying reports by his party's election observers doing a parallel count, showed that he had won 62 percent of the vote, with 26 percent for Guei. According to these reports, the voter turnout was 36 percent. Three minor candidates split the rest of the vote. Even the Minister of Home Affairs' numbers show a "majority vote" by the non-voters, meaning that the call for a boycott has been successful at large. Thus, three candidates now can call them the winner of the presidential election. France has again warned the military authorities against ignoring the electorate's wishes, according to the BBC. The elections had been condemned by the US, the European Union, Canada and the Organisation of African Unity in advance, and further protests against its organisation are to be expected. The Ivorian opposition, however, already has called it a fraudulent election.
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