Opposition presses for polls
2010-02-05 15:53
Abidjan - Ivory Coast's opposition Friday called for long delayed polls to be held by March after a civil war which has allowed President Laurent Gbagbo to stay in power for a decade without seeking a second term.
An opposition bloc grouping the historically dominant Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) and the Rally of Republicans (RDR) party also said a peace deal aimed at ending a crisis after a failed in September 2002 coup could collapse.
The 2007 deal "has never been under such a threat due to the delaying tactics of the camp" of Gbagbo, who was elected in 2000, it said.
Elections were due in 2005 but have never been held due to security concerns and the country's failure to revamp an electoral list.
"The drawing up of the electoral list ...has witnessed a great delay which could create a ... dangerous bottleneck for exiting the (political) crisis," said a joint opposition grouping of the PDCI and RDR.
The group said the elections should be held "at the latest" by March.
The United Nations Security Council recently called for an election to be held by May 31, before mandates for a UN force with nearly 8 000 personnel and a French 1 800-troop deployment in the country run out.
Fresh scandal
It urged "the relevant Ivorian stakeholders to ensure the publication of the final voters list, to announce the official date of the first round of the presidential elections and to meet their commitments in full".
The poll is aimed at ending a crisis that began with an attempted coup against Gbagbo in September 2002, which left the country split between the rebel-held north - which is mainly Muslim - and a government-controlled Christian-dominated south.
Ivory Coast is a former French colony with a population of 20 million.
The election has already been delayed six times since 2005, when Gbagbo's mandate ran out. And now a fresh scandal is threatening to delay the vote yet again.
Interior Minister Desire Tagro has said he would ask prosecutors to open an inquiry into a possible case of voter list fraud by the country's electoral commission after a local press report.
The Independent Electoral Commission, or CEI under its French-language acronym, refutes allegations of fraud but has acknowledged major problems in managing voter lists.
The scandal is seriously affecting preparations for the crucial election.
Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, former leader of the New Forces rebel movement, has ordered a full re-examination of the CEI's work.
- SAPA