European Union (EU) observers raised concerns on Tuesday about ballot counting in Côte d'Ivoire's first election since civil war erupted in the country eight years ago, criticising authorities for delaying the release of results and barring monitors from some centres where votes were being tabulated.
The head of the EU's 120-strong observer mission, Cristian Preda, said the failure to release any significant tally so far was fuelling tension among a nervous electorate. However, Preda said the EU had detected "no indications of fraud" in Sunday's poll and praised it for having been carried out peacefully.
Yves Tadet, an electoral commission official, said he was unaware of any observers being denied access to counting centres, but said they could have been turned away for failing to have proper paperwork. The commission has blamed logistical problems and heavy rains for delaying results for two days. Tadet said a final tally could be expected on Wednesday, as scheduled.
The vote is seen as a critical turning point in Côte d'Ivoire's history. Many hope it will restore stability and reunify the country, but some worry it could spark violence if political rivals fail to accept the outcome. Deepening fears over possible unrest prompted some businesses to close temporarily on Tuesday or send workers home early, and highways in skyscraper-lined Abidjan were void of usual traffic jams. The head of the armed forces, General Phillipe Mangou, went on state television to urge residents to resume normal life and stay calm.
The ballot has pitted 65-year-old President Laurent Gbagbo against 13 challengers, including 68-year-old opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, who is wildly popular in the pro-rebel north, as well as 76-year-old ex-president Henri Konan Bédié, who was toppled in 1999 in the nation's first coup d'état. If no candidate wins a simple majority, the top two finishers will face off in a second round on November 28.
Preda said EU monitors spread across the country had noted minor problems at polling stations during Sunday's poll. About 80% of stations opened hours later than stipulated because materials were not ready, not all electoral members were present in some, and one-tenth of ballot boxes were not properly sealed. However, he said the EU was generally satisfied with the vote itself and was preoccupied with the critical phase of monitoring the vote count. "The electoral commission, though, had refused to give 14 observers access to centres where ballots were being collated in several parts of the country," he said. Those included the crucial headquarters of the electoral commission's in the main city, Abidjan, where national results would be released.
EU observers at the electoral headquarters confirmed separately that since counting began on Sunday night, they had been unable to enter the room where national results were being tabulated. "It's an act that we deplore and there is no rational explanation for it," Preda said. "Everything must be transparent." Tadet, the electoral official, said that although monitors could observe counting at polling stations and regional centres across the country, they were not allowed to observe the final tabulation of results at the independent electoral commission's headquarters. Preda said that his observers were still being refused entry in some counting centres on Tuesday morning because authorities had told them "there is nothing to see".
The U.S.-based Carter Centre also said one of its monitors had been told to leave a vote counting centre in the capital, Yamoussoukro. But others had no problems and the mission generally praised the electoral process, as did the African Union. The Carter Centre said voter turnout had been at about 74% -- higher than expected. The vote had been delayed for five years because of disputes over voter rolls. Gbagbo, whose five-year mandate officially expired in 2005, stayed in office claiming elections were impossible because of a 2002-2003 war that left rebels in control of the north.
Côte d'Ivoire has been struggling to hold the vote since a 2007 peace deal broke years of political stalemate, leading to the dismantlement of a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone that had marked the divide between the rebel-held north and the government-loyalist south.
Source: Mail & Guardian
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