Côte d'Ivoire
Elections carried through despite boycott in Côte d'Ivoire

afrol.com , 11 December - Parliamentary elections in Côte d'Ivoire yesterday were widely condemned as undemocratic yet before they started, and the principal opposition party, the RDR, called for a boycott. Thus, voter turnout was low, and in the north, the boycott was enforced violently by the opposition. A deal to postpone the poll was ignored by the Government.

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara was banned from standing on yesterday's election based on allegations that he is not Ivorian. He has forcefully denied the charges, and his RDR party decided not to participate in the elections and called for a general boycott. The conflict reached its climax one week ago when up to 30 persons were killed in street riots and several RDR politicians were detained.

Reports from Côte d'Ivoire confirm that the voters turnout has been low the elections. In the north of the country, the RDR's stronghold, the boycott was effective, but also in the south, many voters staid at home for fear of renewed street violence. Voting however went on in the economic capital Abidjan with heavily armed troops guarding polling stations.

RDR activists enforced the boycott in the northern provinces by burning ballot boxes and papers in several towns, and hindering the transport of ballot papers to others. BBC reported from the main northern town, Korogho, that there had been sporadic confrontations between opposition supporters and security forces. The main market is closed, and the town's streets are empty. According o PANA, voting only took place in 3 out of 16 constituencies in the Savanes region, which comprises the northern districts of Korogho, Ferkessedougou, Boundiali and Tongrela.

The National Electoral Commission is however playing down the incidents and announcing that it will take stock later to determine the constituencies where the voting would be cancelled and possibly arrange by-elections to fill the seats left vacant.

Côte d'Ivoire slips into isolation?
The elections provoked general international protests already last week, as it became clear that Outtara had been barred to participate by a court order. The OAU, the United Nations and the European Union (EU) withdraw their logistical support to the elections in protest. The EU issued a declaration, deploring "the restrictions imposed on voters' freedom of choice".

To curb election violence, the new Government of President Laurent Gbagbo on Saturday had agreed with Outtara's RDR party to postpone the elections for one week, giving the RDR a possibility to appeal in court the exclusion on Ouattara's candidacy. Ouattara therefore called of further mass action against the Government and the elections. The deal had been brokered by international diplomats.

The Government. however, overruled the deal cut with the opposition and made a surprising announcement on national TV that the elections would go on as planned. Interior Minister Emile Doudou now said it would be "wrong to postpone the election because just one party wanted this to happen." There followed a violent enforcement of the opposition's boycott in Northern Côte d'Ivoire and enhanced international protests. 

- There will be no rush to embrace this Government after we went through a lot of effort to mediate an end to the crisis only to have Gbagbo turn around and kick us, a diplomat who helped broker the deal told the Washington Post. Diplomats from Côte d'Ivoire's two major economic partners, France and the United States "were furious" and indicated consequences in bilateral cooperation. The European Union also has announced that it "will assess its support for Côte d'Ivoire".

With its decision to go through with these disputed elections, ignoring international protests and national riots, Laurent Gbagbo's new civilian Government may steer his country into international isolation at a moment were Côte d'Ivoire would have needed all possible support. Political, ethnic and religious tension is bound to continue and the economic situation is already alarming. Gbagbo only recently took over as civilian president from military leader Robert Guei, which was ousted after intending to falsify the October presidential election results. Guei's one year of military rule was a disaster to the national economy, and Gbagbo would have needed international support and goodwill to revitalise the economy. That, he will not get.

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