The African Union does not favour sanctions for now over a disputed presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire and will instead stick to quiet diplomacy, the Union’s top security official said on Sunday.
A row over who won an election on November 28 has left Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top cocoa producer, in a state of paralysis with the president and his rival running parallel administrations, and many people fear an outbreak of violence.
Asked in an interview if sanctions would be imposed, Ramtane Lamamra, the African Union’s Peace and Security Commissioner, said: “Our approach is quiet and discreet diplomacy. Noise doesn’t help.”
World leaders and regional bodies have recognised opposition challenger Alassane Ouattara as winner of the election on the basis of results from the election commission, which were backed by the local UN mission charged with certifying the vote.
But the Constitutional Council, Côte d’Ivoire’s highest legal authority, said President Laurent Gbagbo won the vote, accepting his allegations of widescale fraud by the rebels.
Parallel administration in hotel
Gbagbo has control of the presidential palace and government buildings while Ouattara’s parallel administration is run out of an Abidjan hotel guarded by UN peacekeepers.
“We are still working on Côte d’Ivoire to reach a democratic and peaceful solution,” Lamamra said on the sidelines of a meeting of the African Union’s “Committee of the Wise,” which mediates in crises on the continent.
“The AU recognizes the victory of Ouattara and has suspended Côte d’Ivoire from the Union until it goes back to legitimacy,” he said in the Algerian capital. The AU suspended Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday until Gbagbo hands over power to Ouattara.
A senior US official said last week that Washington was ready to impose sanctions on Gbagbo and his family if he failed to accept defeat in the election.
The International Monetary Fund has said it will only work with a government recognised by the United Nations, and the World Bank and African Development Bank have said they will review their Côte d’Ivoire lending programs. — Reuters