ECOWAS and the African Union Observation Mission delivered their conclusions to Hotel Ivoire. Both acknowledge the holding of the election, which is even qualified as “globally satisfactory” by the AU, but they also point to a context of strong political differences and the events that punctured the vote. Again, the two African intergovernmental institutions are calling on political actors for dialogue.
as reported from Abidjan, François Hume-Ferkatadji
Prior to the observer teams, the head of the ECOWAS mission, Hadjibou Soumaré, lamented the events that punctured the vote, “an obstacle to democracy,” he said. He ended his statement with an address to Ivorian institutions, worrying about the “continuity of the state” in the Ivory Coast.
“The mission urges all institutions involved in the electoral process to take note of the challenges of the vote and urges them to take appropriate action to address all concerns in order to ensure continuity in the state of serenity and dialogue.”
The head of the African Union mission, Mohamed Dileita, was less mixed over this election, which he describes as “generally satisfactory”. “The observed voices took place in a calm and serene atmosphere in 98.5% of the cases.”
Boubèye Maïga, Head of Mission of the Community of the Sahelo-Saharan States (Cen-Sad), indicates that the vote respected the electoral code, but also calls for dialogue. “All actors want dialogue, President Ouattara, whom we met, takes the same perspective. Especially since the country is part of an election cycle that will last several months.”
Shortly before the vote, Alassane Ouatarra stated during a meeting that he wanted to organize legislative elections before the end of the year.
► Also read:Ivory Coast: for EISA and Carter Center, the election leaves “a broken country”
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