[ad_1]
Clashes erupted over the re-election of President Alassane Ouattara when West African nations and France called for talks to end tensions over his disputed third term.
More clashes erupted over the reelection of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, when West African nations and France called for a dialogue to end tensions over his disputed third term.
Ouattara secured the October 31 elections by more than 94 percent, but Côte d’Ivoire is mired in a dispute after opposition leaders rejected the vote, accusing it of violating the two-term limit for the presidency.
The tensions have revived the trauma of the disputed 2010 elections that sparked a brief civil war in the West African country, claiming around 3,000 lives.
At least three people were killed in the central-eastern city of M’Batto between Monday and Tuesday when violence broke out between rival ethnic communities during Ouattara’s third term, police and residents said.
“The situation is calm now and reinforcements are patrolling the area,” said a police spokesman, confirming the total of three dead and 26 wounded.
Another nine people were killed in violence in two other cities on Monday when the country’s highest court validated Ouattara’s electoral victory.
More than 8,000 Ivorians have fled to neighboring countries fearing election-related violence, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday, adding that more than 60 percent of whom are children.
🇨🇮 #Ivory Coast@UNHCRWestAfrica is increasing its support for fear that continued violence will force more people to leave the country. https://t.co/SRs3IpRBRY
– UNHCR West and Central Africa (@UNHCRWestAfrica) November 10, 2020
The Economic Community of West African States of the West African bloc (ECOWAS) offered “warm congratulations” to Ouattara, but the 15-member group urged him to unite with Ivorians after riots that have killed some 50 people since August. .
Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund economist first elected in 2010, urged his main rival Henri Konan Bedie to drop the protests and hold talks to defuse the crisis.
“I will be the president of all Ivorians,” he said on a national broadcast Monday.
There has been no official response from the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI) or its boss Bedie, an 86-year-old former president.
Bedie’s home in Abidjan is still blocked by security forces. Two other opposition leaders have been arrested on suspicion of insurrection after rejecting the ballot and announcing a rival government.
But a representative of the opposition maintained a hard line.
“We do not recognize the choice. We all know [Ouattara] he violated the constitution, ”said N’Goran Djiedri, leader of a faction of the PDCI.
“Yes to dialogue, but the rule of law must be respected.”
‘Real discussion’
ECOWAS urged “all Ivorians to put peace and social cohesion above all else and seek to resolve their differences through dialogue and legal channels.”
The UN, the EU and the African Union have urged talks to halt the worsening tensions in Côte d’Ivoire, which is the world’s leading cocoa producer, Francophone West Africa’s largest economy and a business hub.
Western diplomats and government sources say talks are ongoing with both sides, although no solid progress has been made so far.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the former colonial ruler of Côte d’Ivoire considered that Ouattara’s offer of dialogue was going “in the right direction” but hoped that “the acts would contribute to appeasement.”
“Bedie and Ouattara could be seen and seen together to reduce tensions one level,” said a Western diplomat. “The real discussion must happen between these two.”
Bitter rivalry has marked Ivorian politics for decades alongside ethnic and regional loyalties.
In power since 2010, Ouattara had said at the end of his second term that he would make way for the next generation, raising hopes of ending long-standing disputes.
But the sudden death of his chosen successor in July caused a change of mind.
His candidacy angered opposition leaders, fueling tensions over a possible post-election crisis similar to that of 2010-11 when then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept Ouattara’s defeat.
French troops eventually intervened and those loyal to Ouattara were able to dislodge Gbagbo.
The country was already divided in two after a civil war: the north in the hands of the rebels and the south by the forces of Gbagbo.
[ad_2]
