Friday, April 19, 2024
Fulgence Zamblé*
“Until this problem is solved with the reinstatement of the CEI (the independent electoral commission) and its President (Robert Mambé), we will not participate in any government and we no longer recognize Mr Gbagbo as head of state of Côte d’Ivoire. We are not accepting this coup d’état,” prominent opposition leader Alphonse Djedje Mady told IPS in a phone interview.
On Feb. 14, Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, dissolved the government and the CEI, claiming the authority under special powers conferred on him under Article 48 of the Ivorian constitution.
According to Gbagbo, the dissolution was in response to the stalemate between the CEI and the president’s party over the supposedly fraudulent addition of 429,000 voters on electoral rolls. In an interview with IPS, political scientist Herbert Aka stated that the move was more or less predictable and the decision to dissolve the government was actually taken much later than might have been expected.
Aka says “some ministers place too much emphasis on their membership in a political party. This makes their presence in the government untenable as they regularly making scathing criticisms against the government they’re a part of.”
“We’re only too aware of the political vacuum. It must be filled as quickly as possible to preserve the gains of the electoral process,” said Patrick N’Gouan, president of the Abidjan-based Ivoirian Civil Society Coalition.
“We’ve stated repeatedly that the government should have 20 members and the CEI should be reconstituted with a majority of members drawn from from civil society institutions,” he told IPS.
As prime minister continues working to form a new goverment, Gbagbo announced that he had temporarily reinstated inance minister Charles Diby, minister of the interior Désiré Tagro, and the defence minister, Michel N’Guessan Amani, to carry out essential functions.
Elections planned for the beginning of March are now unlikely to be held on schedule. This is the sixth time that elections have been rescheduled.
*This article, originally appearing in French on Feb. 17, has been updated with information on the protests and repression.