Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said Monday that Europe would fall apart “if governments are completely bound by the decisions of their parliaments.” Every government has “a duty to educate the parliament,” he added in an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel.
Monti’s statement amounts to an admission that the numerous bank bailouts organized to rescue the euro in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, and the austerity programs launched to make the working class pay for them, have strained European bourgeois democracy to the breaking point. The responsibility of the government to parliament, and parliament’s control over the government—which Monti is questioning—is a basic principle of parliamentary democracy.
Monti attacks parliament, but his real target is the working class. For the vast majority of the population, it has already become impossible to influence politics through the ballot box. Major political decisions are made by the financial markets and their henchmen in Brussels, Berlin and the other European capitals.
In the recent elections in Greece and France, parties that appeared to promise an end to, or at least a moderation of, brutal social cuts received broad popular support. In France, the Socialist Party won the presidential election for the first time since 1988. In Greece, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) emerged as the second largest party. But nothing has changed.
The new French president, François Hollande, is continuing the anti-working class policies of his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, offering no opposition to mass layoffs in the auto industry. In Greece, Syriza has assumed the role of loyal opposition, while the government coalition of the conservative New Democracy, social democratic PASOK and Democratic Left is imposing even more brutal austerity measures.
Monti gave his interview after a week in which anti-worker austerity measures were intensified throughout Europe. The Greek government has decided on further cuts of €11.5 billion, which will deepen the suffering of already devastated workers and pensioners. The Spanish government has increased its previous deficit-reduction target by 60 percent and now aims to cut the massive sum of €102 billion from the budget, throwing the country back to the poverty of the Franco era.
The European Central Bank has decided to support countries—through the purchase of government bonds—only if they have previously made an application to the European emergency aid fund and submitted to EU-dictated austerity measures.
This is provoking widespread opposition. In Spain, hundreds of thousands took to the streets against the government's austerity measures. The trade unions are finding it increasingly difficult to keep this anger under control. Neither in Spain nor Greece, nor in any other European country, are the workers willing to accept the destruction of all their gains without a fight.
Under these circumstances, Monti’s comment underscores the basic class agenda of the European bourgeoisie: to press ahead with the policies of the banks, whatever the outcome of elections or the size of street protests and strikes against austerity measures.
Monti knows well that the social counterrevolution demanded by the international financial markets is incompatible with democratic methods. He leads a government of technocrats that has no democratic legitimacy. Monti—an economics professor, advisor to Goldman Sachs and member of several conservative think tanks (Bruegel, Bilderberg Conference, Trilateral Commission)—is a trusted representative of international finance capital. At its behest, he succeeded the Berlusconi government last November without the holding of an election because Berlusconi had failed to cut the budget quickly and deeply enough.
Since then, the Monti government has systematically attacked the social gains and rights won by Italian workers since the fall of the fascist dictatorship of Mussolini at the end of World War II. It has reduced pensions, increased consumption taxes and eliminated legal protections against dismissal and other social rights.
Political conclusions must be drawn from Monti's statement that the break-up of Europe can be prevented only if governments repudiate democratic procedures. The working class cannot defend its rights and social gains within the reactionary framework of the European Union.
The views of Monti’s immediate opponents on European financial policy—German politicians who have criticized his remarks as an attempt to “weaken democratic legitimation,” in the words of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle—are equally hypocritical and reactionary. Berlin has consistently sought to impose devastating cuts, notably on the Greek government, in total defiance of popular opinion in Greece and other European countries. It has, moreover, led the campaign to establish a de facto EU dictatorship over the fiscal policies of euro zone governments.
This underscores that the EU, as a whole, is an instrument for the subjugation of Europe to the dictatorship of competing cliques of finance capital. It can be neither reformed nor pushed to change course by protests and negotiations.
Only the independent mobilization of the working class based on the perspective of the United Socialist States of Europe can halt these attacks. The World Socialist Web Site calls for the abolition of the European Union and its institutions, and links this demand with an international socialist programme.
We fight for the unity of the European and international working class. The workers in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Britain must take up the struggle for the overthrow of Monti, Merkel, Hollande, Rajoy and Cameron and establish workers' governments to expropriate the wealth of the super-rich, the banks and big business and reorganize the economy to serve society as a whole, not the profit interests of the financial aristocracy.
World Socialist Web Site
Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Bridging the African Union's divides
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's success at the AU will be measured by her ability to gain consensus among heads of state, writes Liesl Louw-Vaudran.
When the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was trying to cajole the rest of Africa into accepting his grand idea of a United States of Africa, it was rumoured that he offered Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma the job of prime minister if she would back him. At the time she was South Africa’s minister of foreign affairs.
A lot has changed since that summit in Accra, Ghana, in 2007 when a number of smaller African states gave in to Gaddafi’s bullying and buying of votes. Yet Dlamini-Zuma was duly elected as chairperson of the African Union Commission by a majority of heads of state at its 19th summit in Addis Ababa on July 15.
In effect, she will be the prime minister of an institution that aims to be the continental decision-making body. Of course, things are complicated because she will not be reporting to one executive president but to 54, give or take a few, depending on how many coups there have been on the continent.
The way South Africa lobbied for votes since the last unsuccessful bid for the position in January will not make her job any easier. Some countries are accusing South Africa of using the same tactics of which Gaddafi was guilty.
When she takes up office in Addis Ababa in three months’ time, her first task will have to be an attempt at some radical improvements at the commission – an institution bogged down by inefficiency, understaffing and underspending. Only 52% of posts are filled and the average underspending is 37%.
On this score she will probably do very well, or at least better than her predecessors. Walking into the AU Commission cannot be much worse than walking into the portfolio of home affairs in 2009.
For a while, Addis Ababa has been considered by diplomats to be a hardship post – a perception reinforced by the strain of working in a country with terrible phone infrastructure, restrictive laws and very little to offer expats.
The Anglophone and Francophone divide at the commission is also a reality – the men in boubous (robes) do not sit at the same lunch table as the East Africans in suits – but she will be able to use her skills as a South African to convince bureaucrats from diverse backgrounds to work together.
Despite what the rulebooks say, she will probably have to define her role and relationship with the heads of state as things go along. This she has to do with the rotating head of state who gets the position of AU chairperson for a year – a title often confused with that of the commission chairperson. Benin’s President Yayi Boni has this job at the moment and is doing it relatively well, but sometimes the AU chair is largely symbolic, especially when it is occupied by leaders such as Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who filled this post last year.
Following the extensive battle to get Dlamini-Zuma elected, many are claiming that she will raise the profile of the AU. Certainly the drama between her and her predecessor, Jean Ping, has captured imaginations, but it will take much more than this to restore the credibility of the commission and of the AU. This is true of the union’s image internationally and among ordinary Africans.
Dlamini-Zuma will have the power and influence of South Africa behind her, but it will not always be an advantage given South Africa’s much-criticised Africa policy. Ping, also a former foreign minister, was unable to get heads of state to agree on almost anything and was decried for being weak.
Still, heads of state are unclear about how much power the commission chairperson should have. Former Mali president Alpha Omar Konaré clashed with many of his peers when he had this position. After his term ended the commission chair was again occupied by a minister, just as it was during the time of the Organisation of African Unity.
Consequently, when half of Africa’s heads of state at last year’s summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, decided to recognise the fledgling Libyan National Transitional Council and the other half – led by South Africa – refused to do so, Ping could not do much about it. The AU’s road map for Libya was completely ignored by Nato – a huge embarrassment for Africa.
Earlier this year, when some agreed with Malawi’s president that the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir of Sudan should be respected and the other half wanted the 19th AU summit (that just took place) to be moved to Addis Ababa, Africa again looked hopelessly divided.
These divisions and the stalemate that preceded Sunday’s election made some analysts fear a total breakdown of the institution. Some advised that the AU should abandon efforts to model itself on the European Union, but rather look at a loose structure, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, leaving integration up to the regions.
For now, the AU’s reputation has been salvaged and there is real hope for a more efficient commission with Dlamini-Zuma at the helm.
A huge advantage for her is that she knows the AU commission very well. After all, she helped to implement its constitutive act in the early years after its creation in 2002.
“Your foreign minister doesn’t take no for an answer,” I remember a West African foreign minister telling me at an AU summit in Addis Ababa in 2003. It was during a marathon session on getting a resolution on gender parity pushed through the agenda.
At the time Dlamini-Zuma showed the same unwavering determination and work ethic she has become known for at home. It was not unusual for the media to be called to press briefings by Dlamini-Zuma at 2am or 3am to explain the latest AU decisions.
Ten years after its creation, things at the AU have not moved as quickly as what she and Thabo Mbeki, then her commander in chief, had envisioned. Funding remains a huge problem. More than half ($160-million) of its budget of $275-million for 2012 is paid for by external partners, mostly the European Union. An audit of the commission finalised in 2007 recommended vast reforms of it, but little of this has been implemented by Dlamini-Zuma’s predecessor.
An efficient AU will hugely improve its relations with international donors, especially now that this kind of money is getting scarce. Real action in solving peace and security issues will also improve the AU’s standing in the eyes of its citizens. But achieving credibility and raising the profile of the AU will ultimately depend not on the commission chairperson, but on the quality of leadership in its member states.
Source: Mail & Guardian
When the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was trying to cajole the rest of Africa into accepting his grand idea of a United States of Africa, it was rumoured that he offered Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma the job of prime minister if she would back him. At the time she was South Africa’s minister of foreign affairs.
A lot has changed since that summit in Accra, Ghana, in 2007 when a number of smaller African states gave in to Gaddafi’s bullying and buying of votes. Yet Dlamini-Zuma was duly elected as chairperson of the African Union Commission by a majority of heads of state at its 19th summit in Addis Ababa on July 15.
In effect, she will be the prime minister of an institution that aims to be the continental decision-making body. Of course, things are complicated because she will not be reporting to one executive president but to 54, give or take a few, depending on how many coups there have been on the continent.
The way South Africa lobbied for votes since the last unsuccessful bid for the position in January will not make her job any easier. Some countries are accusing South Africa of using the same tactics of which Gaddafi was guilty.
When she takes up office in Addis Ababa in three months’ time, her first task will have to be an attempt at some radical improvements at the commission – an institution bogged down by inefficiency, understaffing and underspending. Only 52% of posts are filled and the average underspending is 37%.
On this score she will probably do very well, or at least better than her predecessors. Walking into the AU Commission cannot be much worse than walking into the portfolio of home affairs in 2009.
For a while, Addis Ababa has been considered by diplomats to be a hardship post – a perception reinforced by the strain of working in a country with terrible phone infrastructure, restrictive laws and very little to offer expats.
The Anglophone and Francophone divide at the commission is also a reality – the men in boubous (robes) do not sit at the same lunch table as the East Africans in suits – but she will be able to use her skills as a South African to convince bureaucrats from diverse backgrounds to work together.
Despite what the rulebooks say, she will probably have to define her role and relationship with the heads of state as things go along. This she has to do with the rotating head of state who gets the position of AU chairperson for a year – a title often confused with that of the commission chairperson. Benin’s President Yayi Boni has this job at the moment and is doing it relatively well, but sometimes the AU chair is largely symbolic, especially when it is occupied by leaders such as Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who filled this post last year.
Following the extensive battle to get Dlamini-Zuma elected, many are claiming that she will raise the profile of the AU. Certainly the drama between her and her predecessor, Jean Ping, has captured imaginations, but it will take much more than this to restore the credibility of the commission and of the AU. This is true of the union’s image internationally and among ordinary Africans.
Dlamini-Zuma will have the power and influence of South Africa behind her, but it will not always be an advantage given South Africa’s much-criticised Africa policy. Ping, also a former foreign minister, was unable to get heads of state to agree on almost anything and was decried for being weak.
Still, heads of state are unclear about how much power the commission chairperson should have. Former Mali president Alpha Omar Konaré clashed with many of his peers when he had this position. After his term ended the commission chair was again occupied by a minister, just as it was during the time of the Organisation of African Unity.
Consequently, when half of Africa’s heads of state at last year’s summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, decided to recognise the fledgling Libyan National Transitional Council and the other half – led by South Africa – refused to do so, Ping could not do much about it. The AU’s road map for Libya was completely ignored by Nato – a huge embarrassment for Africa.
Earlier this year, when some agreed with Malawi’s president that the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir of Sudan should be respected and the other half wanted the 19th AU summit (that just took place) to be moved to Addis Ababa, Africa again looked hopelessly divided.
These divisions and the stalemate that preceded Sunday’s election made some analysts fear a total breakdown of the institution. Some advised that the AU should abandon efforts to model itself on the European Union, but rather look at a loose structure, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, leaving integration up to the regions.
For now, the AU’s reputation has been salvaged and there is real hope for a more efficient commission with Dlamini-Zuma at the helm.
A huge advantage for her is that she knows the AU commission very well. After all, she helped to implement its constitutive act in the early years after its creation in 2002.
“Your foreign minister doesn’t take no for an answer,” I remember a West African foreign minister telling me at an AU summit in Addis Ababa in 2003. It was during a marathon session on getting a resolution on gender parity pushed through the agenda.
At the time Dlamini-Zuma showed the same unwavering determination and work ethic she has become known for at home. It was not unusual for the media to be called to press briefings by Dlamini-Zuma at 2am or 3am to explain the latest AU decisions.
Ten years after its creation, things at the AU have not moved as quickly as what she and Thabo Mbeki, then her commander in chief, had envisioned. Funding remains a huge problem. More than half ($160-million) of its budget of $275-million for 2012 is paid for by external partners, mostly the European Union. An audit of the commission finalised in 2007 recommended vast reforms of it, but little of this has been implemented by Dlamini-Zuma’s predecessor.
An efficient AU will hugely improve its relations with international donors, especially now that this kind of money is getting scarce. Real action in solving peace and security issues will also improve the AU’s standing in the eyes of its citizens. But achieving credibility and raising the profile of the AU will ultimately depend not on the commission chairperson, but on the quality of leadership in its member states.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ivory Coast: Summary
The strife-torn West African nation of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) was once a beacon of prosperity for the region. But since a 2002 civil war, the country has been divided between north and south and wracked by years of political confrontation, coups and countercoups, and street violence.
It was hoped that an oft-postponed presidential election in November 2010, the first in 10 years, would be a force for peace and unity. Instead, competing declarations of victory and clashes between supporters of rival presidential candidates have destabilized the country further.
Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, banker and leader of the opposition, has been recognized as the winner of November’s election by the United Nations, the African Union, the United States and the European Union. The incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, 65, a leftist university professor-turned-populist strongman whose term ended in 2005, has resisted repeated calls for him to cede the office, clinging to power amid rebellion in the north and disputes among the country’s top political leaders
The country’s top elections officer proclaimed Mr. Ouattara the winner on Dec. 2, by a nearly nine-point margin. Only a day later, the head of the Constitutional Council, who is a close ally of the president, threw out vote totals from parts of the north — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what he called “flagrant irregularities,” leading both men to claim the presidency.
The deadly standoff between the rival presidents appears to be broadening. Armed forces associated with the Ouattara camp have clashed with Mr. Gbagbo’s forces on the streets of the nation’s economic capital, Abidjan, as well as in a town in the center of the country. Security forces loyal to President Gbagbo have opened fire on demonstrators. After men in military uniforms fired on a United Nations patrol on Dec. 18, President Gbagbo ordered United Nations and French peacekeepers to leave the country immediately. Analysts fear the departure of some 10,000 United Nations peacekeepers would increase the risk of a return of the civil war
Once-gleaming downtown Abidjan, a magnet for immigrants from all over West Africa in the days when people spoke of the Ivorian “miracle,” has become a forest of darkened high-rise windows. Investors have pulled out; jobs have vanished. More than four million young men are unemployed in a nation of some 21 million people, according to the World Bank.
Rebels continue to control the partly Muslim north, feeding off smuggling and illicit taxation, while the west remains a substantially lawless domain of robbery and rape, a recent Human Rights Watch report said.
Source: New York Times
It was hoped that an oft-postponed presidential election in November 2010, the first in 10 years, would be a force for peace and unity. Instead, competing declarations of victory and clashes between supporters of rival presidential candidates have destabilized the country further.
Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, banker and leader of the opposition, has been recognized as the winner of November’s election by the United Nations, the African Union, the United States and the European Union. The incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, 65, a leftist university professor-turned-populist strongman whose term ended in 2005, has resisted repeated calls for him to cede the office, clinging to power amid rebellion in the north and disputes among the country’s top political leaders
The country’s top elections officer proclaimed Mr. Ouattara the winner on Dec. 2, by a nearly nine-point margin. Only a day later, the head of the Constitutional Council, who is a close ally of the president, threw out vote totals from parts of the north — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what he called “flagrant irregularities,” leading both men to claim the presidency.
The deadly standoff between the rival presidents appears to be broadening. Armed forces associated with the Ouattara camp have clashed with Mr. Gbagbo’s forces on the streets of the nation’s economic capital, Abidjan, as well as in a town in the center of the country. Security forces loyal to President Gbagbo have opened fire on demonstrators. After men in military uniforms fired on a United Nations patrol on Dec. 18, President Gbagbo ordered United Nations and French peacekeepers to leave the country immediately. Analysts fear the departure of some 10,000 United Nations peacekeepers would increase the risk of a return of the civil war
Once-gleaming downtown Abidjan, a magnet for immigrants from all over West Africa in the days when people spoke of the Ivorian “miracle,” has become a forest of darkened high-rise windows. Investors have pulled out; jobs have vanished. More than four million young men are unemployed in a nation of some 21 million people, according to the World Bank.
Rebels continue to control the partly Muslim north, feeding off smuggling and illicit taxation, while the west remains a substantially lawless domain of robbery and rape, a recent Human Rights Watch report said.
Source: New York Times
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Standoff Set Up With 2 Ivory Coast Presidents
Defying international observers and the country’s own electoral commission, officials tied to President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday declared him the winner of a landmark election in this troubled West African nation, potentially setting the stage for the kind of violence and division that the long-awaited voting was supposed to prevent.
The announcement, made by the Constitutional Council, came only a day after the country’s top election official said Mr. Gbagbo’s challenger had won the election by a solid margin, 54.1 to 45.9 percent — a result the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also endorsed on Friday. The United Nations has a role in certifying the elections, and both Mr. Ban and his longtime special representative here made it clear there was only one winner of last Sunday’s vote: the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
The conflicting declarations left the country in a strange limbo, with two men declared president, and on Friday Mr. Gbagbo’s government found itself under increasing isolation, some of it self-imposed. It has ordered the country’s borders sealed, blocked all foreign television and radio broadcasts — much of the population gets its news from French broadcasters — and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew.
President Obama issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ouattara. He urged “all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Côte d’Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past.”
The streets of this economic capital were largely deserted except for troops, police officers and occasional bands of chanting youth, some of them Gbagbo supporters. Shops were shut tight, anticipating the street violence — often mobilized by Mr. Gbagbo’s camp, political scientists say — that sometimes accompanies political tension here. Calls from Washington and other foreign capitals to respect last Sunday’s vote, which was characterized as largely fair by the European Union and the United Nations, have multiplied. But Mr. Gbagbo showed no signs of backing down. State television announced that he would be sworn in Saturday as president. For years, he ignored calls from abroad to hold elections, staying in office five years after his legal term expired by postponing the vote. On Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, a former professor and historian, appeared set to continue in that vein, with legal justifications for his continued tenure fully mobilized.
Paul Yao N’Dre, the head of the Constitutional Council and a close ally of the president, announced Friday afternoon on national television that he was throwing out vote totals from the nine departments in the country’s northern tier — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what Mr. N’Dre called “flagrant irregularities.” At the end of it, Mr. N’Dre said, “Laurent Gbagbo is declared president of the republic.” Earlier, Mr. Ouattara’s camp had drawn its own line in the sand. “Maybe Laurent Gbagbo thinks he can stage a new putsch in 2010,” a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, told a roomful of reporters here at the fading luxury hotel that is their headquarters. “But this doesn’t change anything. The people of Côte d’Ivoire have spoken. Laurent Gbagbo is beaten.”
Later, Mr. Ouattara declared himself the “elected president.” Years of political confrontation here, with its coups and countercoups, civil war, street violence and postponed elections, seemed poised to repeat itself. The country has been divided between north and south since a 2002 civil war, and it had been hoped that the election would unify it.
A front-page headline in a newspaper close to Mr. Gbagbo translated as “France’s Coup d’État Has Once Again Failed,” singling out the former colonial power that has been the target of the president’s crowd-stirring orations in the past. Late Friday, the few pedestrians out as curfew approached spoke anxiously, and sometimes angrily, about the standoff that was repeating itself in a country that was once a magnet for the region’s immigrants but that now has steadily rising rates of poverty and unemployment.
The announcement that Mr. Gbagbo was the winner “is going to bring on lots of bad things in this country,” said Charles Adou, 36 and unemployed. “Mr. Gbagbo doesn’t want us to go forward. Referring to Mr. N’Dre, who declared Mr. Gbagbo’s victory, Michel Koffi, 28 and unemployed, said, “You put your friend at the head of an institution, you know what the result is going to be.” Analysts foresaw no quick resolution to the standoff. One unknown factor is which way the army, currently under Mr. Gbagbo’s control, will turn. “He’s playing his all,” said Richard Banegas, a political scientist at the Sorbonne in Paris. “He is extremely pugnacious, and he controls a lot of the street forces. He’s gone into a Plan B, a strategy of tension, a kind of Mugabe plan.”
Source: New York Times
The announcement, made by the Constitutional Council, came only a day after the country’s top election official said Mr. Gbagbo’s challenger had won the election by a solid margin, 54.1 to 45.9 percent — a result the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also endorsed on Friday. The United Nations has a role in certifying the elections, and both Mr. Ban and his longtime special representative here made it clear there was only one winner of last Sunday’s vote: the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
The conflicting declarations left the country in a strange limbo, with two men declared president, and on Friday Mr. Gbagbo’s government found itself under increasing isolation, some of it self-imposed. It has ordered the country’s borders sealed, blocked all foreign television and radio broadcasts — much of the population gets its news from French broadcasters — and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew.
President Obama issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ouattara. He urged “all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Côte d’Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past.”
The streets of this economic capital were largely deserted except for troops, police officers and occasional bands of chanting youth, some of them Gbagbo supporters. Shops were shut tight, anticipating the street violence — often mobilized by Mr. Gbagbo’s camp, political scientists say — that sometimes accompanies political tension here. Calls from Washington and other foreign capitals to respect last Sunday’s vote, which was characterized as largely fair by the European Union and the United Nations, have multiplied. But Mr. Gbagbo showed no signs of backing down. State television announced that he would be sworn in Saturday as president. For years, he ignored calls from abroad to hold elections, staying in office five years after his legal term expired by postponing the vote. On Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, a former professor and historian, appeared set to continue in that vein, with legal justifications for his continued tenure fully mobilized.
Paul Yao N’Dre, the head of the Constitutional Council and a close ally of the president, announced Friday afternoon on national television that he was throwing out vote totals from the nine departments in the country’s northern tier — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what Mr. N’Dre called “flagrant irregularities.” At the end of it, Mr. N’Dre said, “Laurent Gbagbo is declared president of the republic.” Earlier, Mr. Ouattara’s camp had drawn its own line in the sand. “Maybe Laurent Gbagbo thinks he can stage a new putsch in 2010,” a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, told a roomful of reporters here at the fading luxury hotel that is their headquarters. “But this doesn’t change anything. The people of Côte d’Ivoire have spoken. Laurent Gbagbo is beaten.”
Later, Mr. Ouattara declared himself the “elected president.” Years of political confrontation here, with its coups and countercoups, civil war, street violence and postponed elections, seemed poised to repeat itself. The country has been divided between north and south since a 2002 civil war, and it had been hoped that the election would unify it.
A front-page headline in a newspaper close to Mr. Gbagbo translated as “France’s Coup d’État Has Once Again Failed,” singling out the former colonial power that has been the target of the president’s crowd-stirring orations in the past. Late Friday, the few pedestrians out as curfew approached spoke anxiously, and sometimes angrily, about the standoff that was repeating itself in a country that was once a magnet for the region’s immigrants but that now has steadily rising rates of poverty and unemployment.
The announcement that Mr. Gbagbo was the winner “is going to bring on lots of bad things in this country,” said Charles Adou, 36 and unemployed. “Mr. Gbagbo doesn’t want us to go forward. Referring to Mr. N’Dre, who declared Mr. Gbagbo’s victory, Michel Koffi, 28 and unemployed, said, “You put your friend at the head of an institution, you know what the result is going to be.” Analysts foresaw no quick resolution to the standoff. One unknown factor is which way the army, currently under Mr. Gbagbo’s control, will turn. “He’s playing his all,” said Richard Banegas, a political scientist at the Sorbonne in Paris. “He is extremely pugnacious, and he controls a lot of the street forces. He’s gone into a Plan B, a strategy of tension, a kind of Mugabe plan.”
Source: New York Times
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
EU expresses concern over Côte d'Ivoire vote count
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
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
Thursday, December 17, 2009
World climate conference: Conflict outside and inside Copenhagen meeting
Danish police battled several thousand demonstrators in the streets outside the world climate conference in Copenhagen, while inside the delegates of the major imperialist powers, China, India and dozens of less developed countries clashed over conflicting proposals to deal with the worldwide impact of pollution caused by industrialization, deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
More than 260 protesters were arrested and many were teargassed, hit by pepper spray or beaten with batons as police repeatedly charged into the ranks of the demonstrators. Most of those demonstrating were in Copenhagen to demand emergency action against global warming and the climate-related deterioration in living conditions, particularly for people living in vulnerable coastal areas and island states.
The police were able to prevent any sizeable incursion into the conference, using dogs, shields, water cannon and armored vans to block access routes and push back most of the demonstrators. They also beat back a group of delegates who tried to leave the conference center and make a show of sympathy for the protests.
Inside the conference, a crisis atmosphere prevailed, with bitter exchanges between the representatives of the US, Britain and other industrialized nations, and those from Africa, Asia and Latin America. At one point Monday, delegates representing all 77 of the poorest nations staged a walkout to protest the intransigence of the rich countries, which are demanding that any climate agreement lock in their economic advantages, permitting double the per capita carbon consumption of the Third World.
Voicing a sentiment widespread among the delegates from the poor countries, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela denounced the position of the US-led bloc. He pointed to the trillions of dollars used to bail out the banks in the United States and Western Europe, telling the assembly, “If the climate was a capitalist bank, they would have already saved it.”
In the face of appeals by environmental scientists to reduce rich-country emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, the EU has offered only a 20 percent cut, the US a mere 3-4 percent cut. Neither figure would be a significant contribution to averting a potential climate catastrophe. No action will be taken that impinges on the profits of the giant capitalist firms that produce and use fossil fuels, and no coordinated worldwide effort is possible given the conflicts between rival national interests.
No amount of pressure or protest around the theme of “climate justice” can persuade the capitalist billionaires and their political representatives in Copenhagen to act against their own class interests. The defense of the environment can be undertaken only by a turn to the international working class, the only social force whose interests are not tied to either capitalist profit or the nation-state system, and the building of a mass movement of working people based on socialist principles.
Source: World Socialist Web
More than 260 protesters were arrested and many were teargassed, hit by pepper spray or beaten with batons as police repeatedly charged into the ranks of the demonstrators. Most of those demonstrating were in Copenhagen to demand emergency action against global warming and the climate-related deterioration in living conditions, particularly for people living in vulnerable coastal areas and island states.
The police were able to prevent any sizeable incursion into the conference, using dogs, shields, water cannon and armored vans to block access routes and push back most of the demonstrators. They also beat back a group of delegates who tried to leave the conference center and make a show of sympathy for the protests.
Inside the conference, a crisis atmosphere prevailed, with bitter exchanges between the representatives of the US, Britain and other industrialized nations, and those from Africa, Asia and Latin America. At one point Monday, delegates representing all 77 of the poorest nations staged a walkout to protest the intransigence of the rich countries, which are demanding that any climate agreement lock in their economic advantages, permitting double the per capita carbon consumption of the Third World.
Voicing a sentiment widespread among the delegates from the poor countries, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela denounced the position of the US-led bloc. He pointed to the trillions of dollars used to bail out the banks in the United States and Western Europe, telling the assembly, “If the climate was a capitalist bank, they would have already saved it.”
In the face of appeals by environmental scientists to reduce rich-country emissions of greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, the EU has offered only a 20 percent cut, the US a mere 3-4 percent cut. Neither figure would be a significant contribution to averting a potential climate catastrophe. No action will be taken that impinges on the profits of the giant capitalist firms that produce and use fossil fuels, and no coordinated worldwide effort is possible given the conflicts between rival national interests.
No amount of pressure or protest around the theme of “climate justice” can persuade the capitalist billionaires and their political representatives in Copenhagen to act against their own class interests. The defense of the environment can be undertaken only by a turn to the international working class, the only social force whose interests are not tied to either capitalist profit or the nation-state system, and the building of a mass movement of working people based on socialist principles.
Source: World Socialist Web
Friday, October 30, 2009
African Union imposes sanctions on Guinea junta
The African Union said on Thursday it was imposing immediate sanctions against the leaders of Guinea's ruling military junta, which took power in a coup last December after the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte. "These sanctions are targeted at the civilians and military personnel that are perpetuating these unconstitutional acts in Guinea," Lamamra Ramtane, AU commissioner for peace and security, told a meeting of the African body in Nigeria. "It is not intended to target the people of Guinea," he said, specifying the sanctions would include such measures as the freezing of bank accounts and travel visas rather than trade sanctions against the country. He said the measures would be directed against the leadership of the CNDD, the ruling junta in the West African country led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.
International pressure and internal dissent have grown in Guinea, the world's top supplier of bauxite, since live ammunition was used against anti-government protesters in a stadium a month ago. A local rights group said 157 people were killed. The United States, France and the European Union have called on Camara to step down and the International Criminal Court has said it is investigating the killings.
The EU agreed on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on the West African country, and restrict the travel and freeze assets of those involved in the killing of the protesters. The U.S. government has also restricted travel to the United States by some members of the junta and the government, as well as others who support actions that "undermine the restoration of democracy and the rule of law".
The AU had threatened sanctions if Camara, who promised to rein in the army and transfer power to civilian rule through elections, refuses to opt out of a poll set for January.
Source: reuters
The African Union communique can be found here.
International pressure and internal dissent have grown in Guinea, the world's top supplier of bauxite, since live ammunition was used against anti-government protesters in a stadium a month ago. A local rights group said 157 people were killed. The United States, France and the European Union have called on Camara to step down and the International Criminal Court has said it is investigating the killings.
The EU agreed on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on the West African country, and restrict the travel and freeze assets of those involved in the killing of the protesters. The U.S. government has also restricted travel to the United States by some members of the junta and the government, as well as others who support actions that "undermine the restoration of democracy and the rule of law".
The AU had threatened sanctions if Camara, who promised to rein in the army and transfer power to civilian rule through elections, refuses to opt out of a poll set for January.
Source: reuters
The African Union communique can be found here.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
South Africa/EU: Take Steps Together to Improve Human Rights
The European Union and South Africa should take steps to enhance cooperation on international human rights issues when they meet this week, Human Rights Watch said today in letters to South Africa's minister of international cooperation and the prime minister of Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency. The second EU-South Africa summit meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2009, in Kleinmond, South Africa.
The summit aims to strengthen the partnership between the EU and South Africa in several areas, from economic development in Africa to conflict resolution. In the letters, to Maite Nkoana-Mashabane of South Africa and Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, Human Rights Watch called on both parties to make significant joint commitments on human rights. South Africa has one of the world's strongest rights-protecting constitutions, and the EU has a long record of respecting individual rights. European Union and South African support was key to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
"Sometimes the EU and South Africa have worked at cross purposes, but when they work together, they have a good track record," said Lotte Leicht, EU director at Human Rights Watch. "Their combined efforts can make a real difference."
Source: Human Rights Watch
The summit aims to strengthen the partnership between the EU and South Africa in several areas, from economic development in Africa to conflict resolution. In the letters, to Maite Nkoana-Mashabane of South Africa and Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, Human Rights Watch called on both parties to make significant joint commitments on human rights. South Africa has one of the world's strongest rights-protecting constitutions, and the EU has a long record of respecting individual rights. European Union and South African support was key to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
"Sometimes the EU and South Africa have worked at cross purposes, but when they work together, they have a good track record," said Lotte Leicht, EU director at Human Rights Watch. "Their combined efforts can make a real difference."
Source: Human Rights Watch
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Chinese, EU Officials See Prague Summit Milestone
The 11th summit of the European Union and China to be held in Prague will be "a milestone" in the development of relations between the two, top Chinese and EU diplomats said in Brussels on Tuesday.
The summit will be "a milestone in our common journey" for a "new global order, ways to tackle the global recession, promote peace and save the planet," Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, told a seminar on EU-China relations.
"Never has the world confronted such a complex and inter-linked set of security, economic and environmental challenges as we witness today. We live in an age where global threats require global solutions," she said. "China is one of our most important partners to meet the challenges of today and of tomorrow," she said.
"The Chinese development model, which has achieved more in 30 years than has been achieved in two centuries, is a globalization success story not a globalization scare story." Also speaking at the seminar, which was organized by the European think-tank Friends of Europe, Chinese Ambassador to the EU Song Zhe said the EU-China summit in Prague will be an event important for both sides.
"Under the storm of the financial crisis, we all understand better that our cooperation means a lot to us and to the world," he said.
Source: China Radio International
The summit will be "a milestone in our common journey" for a "new global order, ways to tackle the global recession, promote peace and save the planet," Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, told a seminar on EU-China relations.
"Never has the world confronted such a complex and inter-linked set of security, economic and environmental challenges as we witness today. We live in an age where global threats require global solutions," she said. "China is one of our most important partners to meet the challenges of today and of tomorrow," she said.
"The Chinese development model, which has achieved more in 30 years than has been achieved in two centuries, is a globalization success story not a globalization scare story." Also speaking at the seminar, which was organized by the European think-tank Friends of Europe, Chinese Ambassador to the EU Song Zhe said the EU-China summit in Prague will be an event important for both sides.
"Under the storm of the financial crisis, we all understand better that our cooperation means a lot to us and to the world," he said.
Source: China Radio International
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Ivory Coast Ruler Declares Himself Winner
The military ruler, Gen. Robert Guei, declared himself winner of Sunday's presidential election today, dissolving the electoral commission that had shown him trailing his main opponent and dashing hopes that the vote would reverse this West African country's yearlong slide into political instability.
The announcement set off immediate and widespread protests here and in several other cities. On Monday, after preliminary results indicated that the main opposition leader, Laurent Gbagbo, had an 11-point lead, soldiers invaded the offices of the National Electoral Commission and halted the vote-counting. Mr. Gbagbo reacted furiously to the announcement, which had been read out by a mid-ranking electoral official at a hastily called news conference at the Interior Ministry. Declaring himself the country's rightful new president, Mr. Gbagbo called on his supporters "to stand up against the impostor." His party said later that two people were killed in a confrontation with soldiers.
Thousands took to the streets late this afternoon, marching through several of the city's working-class neighborhoods, setting up roadblocks and burning tires. Gunfire punctuated chants of "Guei, thief!" Soldiers fired shots in the air and tear gas at protesters who had approached the national radio building. Thousands more moved toward the two bridges leading to downtown Abidjan and the presidential palace. But the security forces, who appeared to remain loyal to General Guei, blocked their advance. "Enough is enough," said Juliette Adjoua Koffi, a woman who had joined marchers in the neighborhood of Port Bouet. "I have never participated in a demonstration before. I'm sick over this. It's a masquerade, a fraud. Guei has to leave power. If he doesn't leave, it's war."
A man in the crowd expressed anger that the military government had annulled an election that many ordinary Ivoirians had supported through small donations, after Western countries had cut off support, to protest what they said would be an unfair vote. "All of us gave what we could because we believed in democracy," he said. "But now we see that this transition will never end. We've been waiting and waiting."
The center of Abidjan was quiet tonight after the government declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew throughout the country. Earlier in the day, before the announcement, the military had placed tanks at critical spots in downtown Abidjan. As the electoral commission kept an ominous silence, shops closed early, schoolchildren went home, and Air France canceled its daily flight here from Paris.
Today's announcement drew strong condemnation the European Union, including France, the former colonial power, and the United States. "We call on the military junta to respect the will of the Ivoirian people," said Philip Reeker, the State Department spokesman. "General Guei cannot legitimize his rule through a military coup, followed by an illegitimate election."
Earlier this month, the European Union and Washington had said they would not endorse the election after a court controlled by General Guei eliminated the candidates of the two major parties. But privately, foreign diplomats had said that a victory by Mr. Gbagbo would have helped the Ivory Coast re-establish ties with the West and international donors.
Today's turn of events cast a shadow on this region of Africa, where the Ivory Coast had long been an anchor of stability and one of the few African nations not to have experienced a coup until last December. It was in a Dec. 24 putsch that General Guei toppled the unpopular civilian government of President Henri Konan Bedie. The general claimed not to be interested in long-term power, but he sidelined his political and military rivals in recent months and eventually declared his intention to run as president. Last Friday, General Guei promised on national television that he would respect the election's results. But clearly he did not like what he saw on Monday morning, the day after what was widely considered a well-organized and fair vote.
With 8 percent of the ballots counted, the electoral commission had Mr. Gbagbo ahead with 11 percentage points. Mr. Gbagbo's own numbers, based on tallies given to each party representative at the voting booths, gave the politician an overwhelming lead. Today, the military government accused the commission of incompetence and said that "massive fraud organized by certain political parties" had been committed.
The commission's president, Honore Guie, was taken away in a sport-utility vehicle by soldiers. Shortly afterward, at the Interior Ministry, a mid-ranking electoral official, Daniel Bamba Cheik, said that the commission had been dissolved. He said that it had counted the ballots in "confusion" and that its conclusions were worthless. Mr. Cheik announced the junta's election results, which gave the general 53 percent of the votes, compared with 48 percent for Mr. Gbagbo. A couple of hours later, General Guei gave a short speech declaring himself the new president.
Complimenting Ivoirians for their "maturity and solidarity," General Guei said: "You have fulfilled your civic duty, the results of which have made this humble person the first president of the second Republic."
Source: New York Times
The announcement set off immediate and widespread protests here and in several other cities. On Monday, after preliminary results indicated that the main opposition leader, Laurent Gbagbo, had an 11-point lead, soldiers invaded the offices of the National Electoral Commission and halted the vote-counting. Mr. Gbagbo reacted furiously to the announcement, which had been read out by a mid-ranking electoral official at a hastily called news conference at the Interior Ministry. Declaring himself the country's rightful new president, Mr. Gbagbo called on his supporters "to stand up against the impostor." His party said later that two people were killed in a confrontation with soldiers.
Thousands took to the streets late this afternoon, marching through several of the city's working-class neighborhoods, setting up roadblocks and burning tires. Gunfire punctuated chants of "Guei, thief!" Soldiers fired shots in the air and tear gas at protesters who had approached the national radio building. Thousands more moved toward the two bridges leading to downtown Abidjan and the presidential palace. But the security forces, who appeared to remain loyal to General Guei, blocked their advance. "Enough is enough," said Juliette Adjoua Koffi, a woman who had joined marchers in the neighborhood of Port Bouet. "I have never participated in a demonstration before. I'm sick over this. It's a masquerade, a fraud. Guei has to leave power. If he doesn't leave, it's war."
A man in the crowd expressed anger that the military government had annulled an election that many ordinary Ivoirians had supported through small donations, after Western countries had cut off support, to protest what they said would be an unfair vote. "All of us gave what we could because we believed in democracy," he said. "But now we see that this transition will never end. We've been waiting and waiting."
The center of Abidjan was quiet tonight after the government declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew throughout the country. Earlier in the day, before the announcement, the military had placed tanks at critical spots in downtown Abidjan. As the electoral commission kept an ominous silence, shops closed early, schoolchildren went home, and Air France canceled its daily flight here from Paris.
Today's announcement drew strong condemnation the European Union, including France, the former colonial power, and the United States. "We call on the military junta to respect the will of the Ivoirian people," said Philip Reeker, the State Department spokesman. "General Guei cannot legitimize his rule through a military coup, followed by an illegitimate election."
Earlier this month, the European Union and Washington had said they would not endorse the election after a court controlled by General Guei eliminated the candidates of the two major parties. But privately, foreign diplomats had said that a victory by Mr. Gbagbo would have helped the Ivory Coast re-establish ties with the West and international donors.
Today's turn of events cast a shadow on this region of Africa, where the Ivory Coast had long been an anchor of stability and one of the few African nations not to have experienced a coup until last December. It was in a Dec. 24 putsch that General Guei toppled the unpopular civilian government of President Henri Konan Bedie. The general claimed not to be interested in long-term power, but he sidelined his political and military rivals in recent months and eventually declared his intention to run as president. Last Friday, General Guei promised on national television that he would respect the election's results. But clearly he did not like what he saw on Monday morning, the day after what was widely considered a well-organized and fair vote.
With 8 percent of the ballots counted, the electoral commission had Mr. Gbagbo ahead with 11 percentage points. Mr. Gbagbo's own numbers, based on tallies given to each party representative at the voting booths, gave the politician an overwhelming lead. Today, the military government accused the commission of incompetence and said that "massive fraud organized by certain political parties" had been committed.
The commission's president, Honore Guie, was taken away in a sport-utility vehicle by soldiers. Shortly afterward, at the Interior Ministry, a mid-ranking electoral official, Daniel Bamba Cheik, said that the commission had been dissolved. He said that it had counted the ballots in "confusion" and that its conclusions were worthless. Mr. Cheik announced the junta's election results, which gave the general 53 percent of the votes, compared with 48 percent for Mr. Gbagbo. A couple of hours later, General Guei gave a short speech declaring himself the new president.
Complimenting Ivoirians for their "maturity and solidarity," General Guei said: "You have fulfilled your civic duty, the results of which have made this humble person the first president of the second Republic."
Source: New York Times
Saturday, December 19, 1992
German Parliament Ratifies Treaty for European Union
Germany ratified the treaty on European political and economic union today, becoming the 10th of the 12 European Community nations to do so. The Bundesrat, Parliament's upper house, unanimously approved the treaty after just two hours of debate. The Bundestag, the lower house, approved it on Dec. 2.
All 12 European Community nations approved the treaty in the Dutch town of Maastricht last year, but each country's parliament or voters must ratify it before it can take effect. Still undecided are Denmark, whose voters have already refused once to ratify the treaty, and Britain, where fear of a loss of sovereignty appears high.
Source: New York Times
All 12 European Community nations approved the treaty in the Dutch town of Maastricht last year, but each country's parliament or voters must ratify it before it can take effect. Still undecided are Denmark, whose voters have already refused once to ratify the treaty, and Britain, where fear of a loss of sovereignty appears high.
Source: New York Times
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