Elections in Ivory Coast to Be Postponed Again
President Laurent Gbagbo
The delay in the publication of the provisional voters list in Ivory Coast may cause elections planned for November 29 to be postponed. There are fears that scrambling to make the November deadline will result in a flawed vote. The elections which have been planned since 2005 have been postponed several times as attempts are made to find a lasting political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once stable West African nation. The rebel faction that continues to hold the northern part of the country, The New Forces, has said that the delay in voter list publication has contributed in the delay.
Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who has insisted the vote take place in 2009, said a mid-December vote could be possible if these delays can be overcome. But it seems only Ivory Coast’s Independent Electoral Commission can officially push back the presidential elections. Lat week, the commission announced that it would be posting two lists. The first will contain the names of 4.3-million voters whose nationality has already been verified. The second will contain the names of about 1.9-million voters whose nationality is still unconfirmed. In the past, registration issues, particularly issues of nationality and voter eligibility, have prompted Ivory Coast to push back the election several times since President Gbagbo’s mandate ran out in October 2005.
In 2002, rebels attempted to overthrow President Gbagbo and took control of the northern part of the country. Thousands were killed in the conflict, and the country, though now at peace, remains tense and fractured. Elections set by 2007 and 2008 peace accords that created a transitional, power-sharing government has since not been realised. It seems the government is determined that confirming the validity of voter registrations is essential to ensuring the success of the election.
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