/ 15 May 2006

Gbagbo vows to stay in power until vote held

Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has vowed that he will remain in power as long as elections have not been held in the crisis-ridden and politically divided West African country.

”The Constitution on which I took [my] oath gives me a responsibility. And as long as there are no elections, it is I who am the president,” he declared on Sunday on a United Nations-run radio station in remarks reported on Monday by the local press.

Although Gbagbo’s mandate ran out last year, the UN agreed he could remain in office until October 2006, providing that free and fair elections were held by then.

The elections to replace the current transitional government led by respected banker Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny are seen by the international community as a key step in ending conflict in Côte d’Ivoire, once a beacon of stability and prosperity in West Africa.

For the vote to succeed, international power brokers have said it has to be preceded by national reunification, the disarming of combatants and a population census — vital for compiling a credible electoral list.

The simultaneous process of voter identification and disarmament is due to start on Thursday, according to an announcement by Banny that has been welcomed by the UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire (Onuci).

”These processes … constitute an additional proof of the determination of the political players to begin resolutely on the way to peace,” said Onuci in a statement on Monday.

”The efforts in progress must be encouraged and supported because their success will mark a significant advance in the harmonious control of the identification and disarmament processes, which constitute very important steps in the programme out of the crisis,” said the UN.

The disarmament will affect 42 500 New Forces rebel combatants, 5 000 regular army troops and 12 000 members of hard-line militias loyal to Gbagbo.

Nearly 7 000 UN peacekeepers backed by 4 000 French troops are deployed in Côte d’Ivoire — divided into two since a failed coup against Gbagbo in September 2002 — to prevent the resumption of hostilities.

Last month the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in a report to the Security Council, said that if the October election deadline is not respected, the international community will not be able to agree once again to extend current arrangements.

Gbagbo, who has previously been openly opposed to the simultaneous process of voter identification and disarmament, pledged during the radio interview his support for Banny in ending the Ivorian crisis, but expressed reservations about the international power mediators.

”The international community is perhaps acting in good faith, but it gropes around, too, and it has too many contributors. They are too numerous and thus they trample upon one another,” he said. — Sapa-AFP