Ivory Coast awaits result of first open election after millions vote

By Thomas Morfin (AFP).  Abidjan– The people of Ivory Coast on Monday awaited the outcome of a presidential poll, after a historic and peaceful vote in which they had a free choice among candidates and turned out in large numbers.

The outcome of Sunday’s election was due to be released on Wednesday, but the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) is expected to work fast to avoid trouble between supporters of rival candidates.

The election is meant to bring an end to a decade of political and military crises that saw a foiled coup bid against President Laurent Gbagbo in 2002 and the subsequent control of the north by rebels of the New Forces.

Calm prevailed Monday in the economic capital Abidjan and in the central town of Bouake, stronghold of the former rebels, who signed a definitive peace deal with the government in 2007.

Gbagbo’s mandate ran out in 2005, but the 65-year-old postponed the election six times, citing problems with the electoral register and the question of the disarmament of the FN.

His main rivals at the polls – among 14 candidates – are former president Henri Konan Bedie, 76, hoping to make a comeback, and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, 68, both of whom were excluded from the last election in 2000.

About 5.7 million people were registered to vote and the turnout was about 70 percent, according to leaks from the electoral commission. On Sunday night, the CEI began to give out partial results, concerning voters abroad, but then the flow stopped.

“There is strong pressure for the CEI to give the results this (Monday) evening,” a diplomatic source told AFP, adding that it was important to “channel” events and avoid the kind of suspense that could lead to impatience and trouble.

The results will reveal if one candidate managed to beat off all his rivals and win outright on Sunday, or whether a second round will be needed. If there is one, it should be organised within two weeks of the proclamation of the definitive first round results by the Constitutional Council.

Gbagbo and FN leader Guillaume Soro, who became prime minister after the peace deal of 2007, reminded voters over the weekend that it was up to the CEI to announce the results.

The main candidates and international observers have expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the poll, in spite of a few problems of organisation.

Security for the vote was enforced by joint army/FN brigades totalling about 6,600 men, which was fewer than the anticipated 8,000. They had support from the FN in the north and police and the paramilitary gendarmerie in the south, as well as the UN Operation in Ivory Coast (ONUCI), which is more than 8,500 strong.

The election is intended to bring about an end to the crisis opened by a coup in 1999, which ousted Konan Bedie and was worsened by the foiled putsch in 2002, which led to a war in which thousands died and to the partition of the former French colony.

Ivory Coast was long admired for its political stability and its role as an economic powerhouse of west Africa, which attracted hundreds of thousands of migrant workers.