Buscador avanzado

Policemen surround the residence of Henri Konan Bédié, former Ivorian head of state and current president of the National Transitional Council in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, on Nov. 3. (Legnan Koula/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

President Alassane Ouattara won a third term in Côte d’Ivoire’s Oct. 31 election, with 94 percent of the vote. Was this a free and fair election? Some outside analysts suggest that it was not, raising memories of the country’s authoritarian past.

Opposition candidates Henri Konan Bédié and Pascal Affi N’Guessan had called on supporters to boycott the vote, complaining Ouatarra’s candidacy violated the presidential two-term limit. After the vote, police fired tear gas in front of Bédié’s home and arrested his top aides and N’Guessan for calling for new elections and announcing the creation of a parallel government.

The challenges of the Ivoirian 2020 elections have their roots in conflicts that began 30 years ago, when Ouattara and Bédié were rivals to succeed Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country’s first president.…  Seguir leyendo »

President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara arrives in Bamako on 23 July 2020, where West African leaders gathered in a push to end an escalating political crisis in Mali. Photo: Getty Images.

Gon Coulibaly, an economic technocrat and Ouattara loyalist since the 1990s, was earmarked in March as the candidate for the ruling Rassemblement des Houphouëtistes pour la Démocratie et la Paix (RHDP) party in the elections due in October, and represented a handpicked heir, trusted to sustain the strategy established during Ouattara’s nine years in power.

Many RDHP parliamentarians and local mayors are now pressing the 78-year-old Ouattara to run again. This was not what he had planned. He hoped to go out on a high – ‘par la grande porte’ – and set a statesmanlike example of retirement by choice, making way for the next generation.…  Seguir leyendo »

L’année en cours aura été une année électorale chargée en Afrique de l’Ouest. Après le Togo et le Nigeria, la Guinée et la Côte d’Ivoire ont organisé des élections présidentielles en octobre dernier. Le « coup KO » annoncé dans les slogans de campagne a eu lieu, et les présidents sortants ont été largement réélus dès le premier tour : Alassane Ouattara en Côte d’Ivoire avec 83,6 pour cent des voix, et Alpha Condé en Guinée avec 57,8 pour cent.

Pays aux trajectoires politiques différentes, la Guinée et la Côte d’Ivoire font aujourd’hui face aux mêmes défis. Bien qu’ayant connu des élections meurtrières par le passé, ces deux voisins ont connu cette fois-ci des scrutins calmes ou avec des violences limitées.…  Seguir leyendo »

The downward spiral in Ivory Coast continues toward civil war or, at best, stalemate. The standoff between long-time ruler Laurent Gbagbo and the internationally supported presidential victor in credible if imperfect elections, Alassane Ouattara, is far from resolved. Both have had themselves sworn in as president. Both also maintain substantial support within their respective constituencies, some of whom are prepared to fight.

A recent general strike designed by the opposition to force Mr. Gbagbo out was widely observed in the north, where Mr. Ouattara derives much of his support, hardly at all in those parts of the country supportive of Mr.…  Seguir leyendo »

At first glance, the situation in Ivory Coast is another case of a disputed election in a country where the president holds the central role in the political system. Following November's election, the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, is refusing to accept his defeat by former prime minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara. Gbagbo is using his personal connections to the constitutional court to declare votes from Oattara's northern strongholds invalid.

Ouattara was initially declared the winner with 54% of the ballot – and he disputes claims some of those votes were invalid. Subsequently, both men have sworn the presidency oath and presented their cabinets – to the bemusement of Ivorians and the international community.…  Seguir leyendo »