RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Getting That "Ivoirite" Out

By Julio Godoy Reprint | | Print |

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Feb 3 2003 (IPS) - In what is emerging as a historical revolution, rebel forces seem to be winning a battle to get the idea of the "Ivoirite" out of Cote d’Ivoire.

In its place they have won international backing for a multiracial nation in which minorities discriminated against in the Constitution can have equal rights.

The deal came by way of a peace agreement called for by eight African heads of government, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and French President Jacques Chirac. Cote d’Ivoire was formerly a French colony.

The agreement calls for the creation of a reconciliation government in which the rebel forces of the Mouvement Patriotic de la Cote d’Ivoire, the leading guerrilla group fighting the government of President Laurent Gbagbo would be given the ministries of interior and defence. Gbagbo would remain President, but stripped of most of his powers.

The pact provides for Seydou Diarra, 69, a Muslim from the northern rebel-held region of the country to take over as interim prime minister. Diarra was prime minister under the government of Gen Robert Guei, who was assassinated by Gbagbo’s death squad September 19.

Beneath the political differences between Gbagbo’s forces and the rebels lies a racial divide that the new international agreement seeks to bridge. Cote d’Ivoire has a population of 16 million, of whom more than three million are descendants from countries to the north, particularly Mali and Burkina Faso.

The idea of the "Ivoirite" in the present constitution makes people of immigrant origin second class citizens. The international agreement proposes abolition of the notion of the Ivoirite.

Fifteen candidates were barred from the presidential elections of October 2000 in which Gbagbo won over Gen Guei, because they were not "Ivoirites". Also, only Ivoirites have access to land under the present Constitution.

The peace plan has led inevitably to strong resistance by the Ivoirites. Gbagbo has described it as merely a "proposition". But thousands of "young patriots" loyal to him have been holding mass protests in the port city Abidjan since January 27 when the outcome of the peace conference in Paris became known.

These "young patriots" attacked French schools, stores, and homes last week. Hundreds of protesters occupied the airport at Abidjan Friday to block some of an estimated 30,000 French settlers in Cote d’Ivoire who have been advised to leave the country.

The protesters also attacked French troops trying to clear the airport. At least one French soldier was injured.

On Sunday well known actor Camara Vakaramogo Yerefe who was also a member of the opposition party RDR (Union of Republicans) was found murdered on the outskirts of Abidjan. He is reported to have been taken away by the military police Saturday. The discovery of the body led to counter rallies by RDR supporters.

The RDR is led by former prime minister Alassane Outtara who survived an assassination attempt the day the civil war broke out September 19. Outtara sought refuge in the German and then the French embassies, and now lives in exile in France.

The protests underline the ambiguity of the French role in the conflict. French forces have helped keep rebels away from key cities held by government forces. But at the same time the French have brokered a deal that gives rebel forces new rights.