Face à la percée jihadiste au Burkina Faso, porte ouverte sur les pays du Golfe de Guinée, ceux-ci craignent des attaques sur leurs territoires. Les Etats de la région devraient améliorer le partage du renseignement, renforcer les contrôles aux frontières et renouer un lien de confiance avec la population.
Ahead of presidential election scheduled for late Oct, President Ouattara ruled out third term and revised constitution, while controversy over composition of electoral commission continued. Ouattara 5 March said he would not seek re-election and “leave power to the younger generation”; main opposition parties, including former President Bédié’s Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) and former President Gbagbo’s Popular Ivorian Front (FPI) welcomed withdrawal. Former national assembly speaker Guillaume Soro, who has declared intention to run for president, 7 March described move as political ploy designed to divert attention from “tinkering with constitution”. Ruling party Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) 12 March chose PM Amadou Gon Coulibaly as presidential candidate. Bédié faced increasing pressure from civil society and PDCI to withdraw from presidential race; his adviser Kouadio Konan Bertin 2 March said he would run for president should Bédié not declare his candidacy. Council of ministers 6 March adopted constitutional reform project. Opposition parliamentary groups including Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire-African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA), Vox Populi and Guillaume Soro’s Rally for Côte d’Ivoire (RACI) 12 March withdrew from parliamentary debates on constitutional reform project over concerns that changes including presidential appointment of VP, possibility to delay parliamentary elections, and replacement of existing Supreme Court with two judiciary organs whose heads would be chosen by president will concentrate power in president’s hands. Around 5,000 people attended opposition gathering against constitutional revision in capital Yamoussoukro 15 March. Congress 17 March adopted constitutional reform project with large majority; Ouattara next day said he would use reform to postpone legislative elections from Dec 2020 to April 2021. Presidency 19 March said urgent modifications to electoral code would be made by ordinance, due to restrictions on parliamentary meetings in context of COVID-19. Opposition continued to accuse electoral commission of pro-govt bias. PDCI 9 March turned down fourth seat in commission, calling for thorough reform of body.
Working to reduce tensions in western Côte d’Ivoire, a flashpoint for ethnic, political and economic rivalries, is imperative to ensure lasting stability and pave the way for national reconciliation.
President Alassane Ouattara’s coalition is walking a dangerous path toward polarisation by repeating mistakes made by previous governments that could ultimately lead Côte d’Ivoire back to crisis.
Despite a marked improvement in economic governance and the holding of legislative elections in good security conditions on 11 December in Côte d’Ivoire, the divisions within the security forces carry a risk of violent confrontation while the victor’s justice targeting only former President Gbagbo’s followers hampers reconciliation.
Forced to fight five months for the power his November election should have given him peacefully, Côte d’Ivoire’s new president now faces multiple urgent challenges to keep the country from fragmenting.
Côte d’Ivoire is on the verge of a new civil war. This tragedy can only be avoided if Africans and the wider international community stand firm behind the democratically elected president, Alassane Ouattara, and he launches an initiative for reconciliation and a transitional government of national unity.
The problem with the army [in Côte d'Ivoire] is structural disorder that can’t be sorted out with the punctual signing of cheques, even if the cheques are big.
This week’s summit of African and European leaders in Abidjan is a chance to find a win-win solution.
Originally published in IRIN
With the UK’s withdrawal from the EU now imminent, a dramatic power shift is changing the balances behind the scenes of the fifth African Union-European Union summit this week in Côte d’Ivoire. It is an opportunity for the EU to forge a new Africa strategy.
Originally published in Berlin Policy Journal
Originally published in Jeune Afrique
Among the three principal politicians who have struggled for power in Côte d’Ivoire since 1995, President Alassane Ouattara, 73, is the only one still in the game and is most likely to win the presidential election on 25 October. The significance of this election is not so much the electoral outcome – which seems to be a foregone conclusion – as much as the political choices that will result from a renewed Ouattara mandate. Without meaningful political, security and judicial reforms, Côte d’Ivoire could face yet another prolonged period of violence.
Originally published in Daily Maverick
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