September 20, 2010

The question of security during the coming presidential elections in Cote d’Ivoire and the latest developments in the peace process underway in the West African country are the major issues in Monday’s and the weekend’s Ivorian press. 

1. A prominent story in the weekend edition of the state-owned daily Fraternite Matin said Ivorian military officers (government and New Forces) and their UN and French counterparts have drawn up a blueprint aimed at securing the up-coming presidential elections in Cote d’Ivoire. The plan, the paper said, was announced Friday during a meeting in Yamoussoukro. “The question of security is an important challenge for the forces present here…. The success of the elections depends mostly on the efficiency of security measures to be put in place,” the paper quotes UN Forces Commander Gal Abdul Hafiz as saying after the meeting.
2. A report on the same meeting in the weekend’s issue of Le Nouveau Courrier (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) announced that a mock military exercise will be conducted in connection with preparations aimed at securing the presidential elections. The paper, which attributed this information to the UN military commander in Cote d’Ivoire, said that the exercise, which is scheduled for October 3 and October 10, will involve elements to be drawn from the Ivorian government forces, the New Forces Armed Forces (FAFN), UN troops and La Licorne – the French troops based in Cote d’Ivoire. The mock exercise, the paper further quoted Gal Hafiz as saying, is also designed to test “the efficiency” of elements of the Center of Integrated Command (CCI) – a joint government forces and FAFN security unit – and that of the UN forces tasked to ensure that security prevails during the electoral process.
3. While efforts are underway to secure the coming presidential elections, a front-page report in L’inter (an independent daily) said the top military officers meeting Friday in Yamoussoukro noted that “the disarmament and encampment of the former New Forces combatants is not yet complete.”
4. With more on the security issues ahead of the October 31 presidential elections, a banner headline in the weekend edition of Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the cabinet of the Prime Minister) said that after Divo [a city that was swept by a wave of political violence in February this year], the government has stepped up security in seven other cities across the country. According to the paper, the deployment of elements of CRS – a state security unit -- was announced a few days ago by Bertin Kadet, President Gbagbo’s advisor on security issues. The paper cited Gagnoa [center], Abengourou [west], Agboville [south], Bouna [northwest], Duekoue [west] and San- Pedro [southwest] as the cities where the CRS units will be deployed ahead of the presidential elections.
5. In another development, prominent stories in today’s and the weekend’s issues of Fraternite Matin said that the Ivorian authorities have undertaken an important reshuffle of government prefects in the entire country. The reports said that, on September 16, President Gbagbo signed nine decrees nominating new prefects, deputy prefects and other government functionaries. The reports further said all the military officers, who were holding the position of prefects and deputy prefects in most of the regions, have been replaced as a result of the reshuffle.
6. On the political atmosphere in Cote d’Ivoire ahead of the much-awaited presidential elections, Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party), in today’s edition, allegedly reports that a policeman killed a young man over the weekend in Abidjan during a political rally organized by Ivorian opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. Reporting on the same incident, Fraternite Matin calls the event that led to the killing of the young man “a police blunder.” Fraternite Matin also carries a report quoting an Ivorian Catholic cleric who called on the country’s political leaders to make sure that the coming elections should not slide into “chaos.”
7. A report in Le Nouveau Reveil suggests that, barring the unexpected, the key Ivorian political leaders will be meeting on September 21 in Ouagadougou with the facilitator in the Ivorian peace process, Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore. The paper hints that the meeting of the CPC – the committee overseeing the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement – will try to find a consensus on what it describes as “pending issues” to be resolved before the official launch of the presidential campaign. Another report in this paper says the Head of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), Youssouf Bakayoko, who was speaking yesterday on RTI, the national TV, gave details on the conduct of the October 21 presidential elections. According to the paper, Bakayoko again assured the public that the voting will take place according to the schedule and that the campaign will begin a few days ahead of elections.
8. Finally, on the access of the political parties to the state-run Broadcast Corporation -- RTI, a report in the weekend edition of Fraternite Matin said the CNCA – the Government-owned media regulatory body – has announced the calendar of radio and TV debates ahead of the October Presidential elections. The reports also explains that the debates are being supervised by the National Commission for Debates and Special programs, a body put in place by the CNCA in connection with the ongoing electoral process.