SA foresees 'choas' in I Coast

2005-09-15 14:51

Pretoria - South Africa's defence minister on Thursday said it would create chaos if Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo stepped down when his mandate in the war-divided West African country ends on October 30.

"If you now remove the present arrangement that is there, you are going to take Ivory Coast into the dark periods in which there will be no clarity as to how to proceed to resolution," said Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

He said it would "only introduce chaos and huge disruption of society".

South Africa who has been mediating in the strife-torn West African nation since last November, was reacting to demands from rebel group New Forces that Gbagbo step down after October 30 presidential elections and play no part in a transitional government.

'Political leaders did not co-operate'

But United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has since said, along with some politicians in the country, it would be impossible to hold presidential elections as planned on October 30.

"It is not going to be possible because the political leaders and parties have not co-operated," Annan said in an interview with Radio France Internationale last week.

"There are certain things that have to be done before elections in October. We have not even been able to constitute the electoral commission. In practical terms, on a technical level, it is not possible," he said.

Lekota said he had impressed upon the UN security council earlier this month the need to keep to the election date of October 30, but he accepts there might be some postponement.

Possible to postpone elections

"It is quite possible to postpone the elections to the following month or something of that nature. But frankly there is no reason now why there cannot be attainment of elections before the end of this year," he said.

Asked about rebel demands for Gbagbo to step down, Lekota replied: "We have made the point quite clear to the security council that the present constitution of Ivory Coast, on which the agreements are founded, does not make room for any such idea."

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer and once a haven of stability in West Africa, has been split in two since a failed coup against Gbagbo in September 2002, pitting rebels from the Muslim-dominated north against the Christian-populated south.

The African Union asked South Africa last November to spearhead international efforts to ensure progress towards reunification after a 2003 peace deal stalled, with sanctions threatened against the country if an agreed timetable is not kept.

- AFP