THERE appears hope for the resolution of the Cote d’Ivoire crisis as President Laurent Gbagbo has now agreed to a peaceful settlement.
Besides, the opposition leader, Alhassane Ouattara, has indicated his willingness to ensure a “dignified exit” for Gbagbo.
But the soft landing came with a caveat: that Gbagbo accepts the outcome of the presidential election as declared by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and certified by the United Nations (UN).
These were disclosed at a briefing yesterday by the Five-Member Joint High-Level Delegation of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that undertook a mission to Côte d’Ivoire.
The delegation, which met with both parties in Abidjan on Monday, included Cape Verde president, Pedro Verona; Rodrigues Pires Boni Yayi (Benin); Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone); Kenyan prime minister and AU special envoy to Cote d’Ivoire Raila Odinga and President of the ECOWAS Commission James Victor Gbeho.
Giving details of their mission to the troubled country after meeting with ECOWAS Chairman, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, Gbeho who was flanked by other members of the delegation said, Gbagbo had agreed to negotiate a peaceful end to the crisis without any preconditions.
On what was offered from the other side of the table, Gbeho said that as a first and critical step towards a lasting truce and enduring peace and stability, Ouattara indicated his willingness to ensure a dignified exit for Gbagbo.
Earlier yesterday, worried by the plan of some member countries of the ECOWAS to sanction the government of Cote d’ Ivoire under the control of Gbagbo, the government embarked on a diplomatic shuttle appealing to African countries, particularly Nigeria not to yield to international propaganda.
But Jonathan yesterday warned that a solution to Cote d’Ivoire’s deepening political crisis would take time, after the internationally recognised winner of the election said a military intervention should now be considered to oust the incumbent.
“Anything that has to do with a crisis in a nation, it takes time,” Jonathan said adding, “Don’t expect that if there is a major crisis in a country, you just jump in one week and the matter is resolved.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations diplomats and United States top officials have identified Nigeria as the primary contact and focus in the approach to resolving the political crisis in Cote d’ Ivoire.
For instance, U.S. local media reports and diplomatic sources indicate that U.S. top officials including President Barack Obama have been making abortive attempts to reach out to Gbagbo and has since been using Nigeria to express its preferences on resolving the crisis.
At the UN as well the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has also been actively discussing with the Nigerian President including a call late last week Thursday.
Speaking through two of his aides, Serry Bailly (former minister of higher education, now member of parliament) and Dr. Assoa Adou (special counselor) in Abuja yesterday, the embattled president said he was prepared to dialogue over the matter but Africa as a continent should call France and the United States of America (USA) to order.
They accused the two nations of escalating the crisis, stressing that they would want to use African forces to invade the country so that the U.S. and France would not be directly held responsible.
“What we are saying is that no matter the situation in Cote d’ Ivoire, dialogue should be the issue but France is trying to re-colonise Ivory Coast and we will not accept that. That is why we are appealing to our brothers like Nigeria to understand the situation. These people are trying to use proxy forces to attack Ivory Coast and we should not allow this to happen. France and the United States of America… They want political domination and economic exploitation. They want to use proxy forces in Africa because the world would condemn them if they do it directly,” they claimed.
Stating the willingness of Gbagbo to have a dialogue over the matter, the aides said they were waiting for the Alhassane Quattara faction to come up with a template for the discussion, adding that so far, Gbagbo’s actions had been in consonance with the country’s constitution.
“If they want to talk, let them come with a proposal. We have said it severally that it is only dialogue that can get us out of this situation and not a situation where some foreign countries would want to impose certain things on the people of Cote d’ Ivoire because of their economic interest,” they said.
They also faulted the process being adopted in trying to resolve the impasse in the country, pointing out that in all the conferences held, the Gbagbo faction had been left out. They maintained that the crisis in the country was the handiwork of external forces.
“In 2003, while the two parties were meeting and trying to resolve the matter, and were just arriving on the verge of compromise, France invited the group opposed to Gbagbo and the other factions leaving out the Gbagbo group which means that the Ivoirien nation was technically left out of the discussions aimed at resolving the national question,” they said.
The team justified the action of the Constitutional Council in deciding the case of Gbagbo and Quattara, citing Article 98 of the country’s constitution which says: “The decision of the Constitutional Council are not susceptible to any recourse. They (are) imposed on the public powers, on every administrative, jurisdictional, (and) military authority and every physical and moral person.’’
They, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria to take a second look at the situation dispassionately and act in the best interest of the continent and not any propaganda by some countries seeking to exploit the situation in Cote d’Ivoire.
As a way of pushing the case further, they disclosed that Gbagbo had been reaching out to human right organisations in the world seeking their understanding and support.
“We have started a legal option because this is the way to preserve human lives. We have contacted human rights organisations and hope that they will assist us in this matter,” they declared.
Cote d’Ivoire conducted her presidential election in November last year and since then; there has been a controversy over the right person to assume the leadership of the country. While some members of the international community believe that the election was won by Alhassane Quattara, the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, claims to have won and still holds on to power.
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He could have wait to be disgrace out of office.
ReplyDeleteAll these sit-tight presidents of africa countries who want to die in office even when they have nothing to offer to the development of their countries.
-Matthew ( Nigeria)