- Stephen Godonu:
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling party on Sunday warned opposition leaders against attempts to call for a transition of power after they boycotted a weekend election in protest over his bid for a third term.
The West African country’s electoral commission released preliminary results from Saturday’s ballot showing Ouattara with a dominant lead, which had been expected given the opposition’s boycott.
Clashes erupted in Ivory Coast in August when Ouattara said a constitutional reform allowed him to bypass a two-term presidential limit to run again, angering the opposition who called it an “electoral coup”.
Pre-election violence killed at least 30 and the opposition protest stoked fears of a repeat of the 2010-2011 crisis when 3,000 people died after then president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by Ouattara.
“The RHDP warns Mr Affi N’Guessan and his cohorts against any attempt at destabilisation,” ruling RHDP party director Adama Bictogo told thepremiernews.
He was responding to opposition leader Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who earlier said the opposition rejected Saturday’s election and called for a “civilian transition”.
N’Guessan said they believed Ouattara’s mandate was over and called for Ivorians to mobilise against him.
“The RHDP calls for authorities to be firm. No one is above the law,” Bictogo said.
– Ageing adversaries –
Scattered unrest, vandalised voting material and some closed polling stations were reported mostly in opposition strongholds during Saturday’s election.
Abidjan was quiet on Sunday and there were no immediate reports of protests.
The tension in French-speaking West Africa’s top economy are a test for a region where Guinea and Tanzania are caught up in post-election disputes, Nigeria is emerging from widespread unrest and Mali suffered a coup.
The standoff over Ouattara’s third term pits the ex-IMF economist against his old adversary former president Henri Konan Bedie, one of the feuds between ageing leaders that have marked Ivorian politics for decades.
“This is really a difficult situation…. The crisis has not been resolved by the election,” said Professor Arsene Brice Bado at Abidjan’s CERAP research institute.
“The winning party needs to find ways to start a new dialogue.”
The final results of the election are expected on Monday. But with the opposition’s boycott, Ouattara is expected to cruise to a win, particularly in the north where his support base is located.
– Clashes in provinces –
At least five people died in clashes on Saturday in central Tiebissou and Oume and in Tehiri village, security and medical sources said, though a local mayor of Tiebissou said a total of four were killed just in his town.
