West African leaders seek to calm the tension

Presidents Matthieu Kerekou and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Benin and Togo respectively arrived in Cote d’Ivoire this week in an attempt to defuse the tension surrounding upcoming elections in the West African nation.

State television reported that the two leaders started meeting on Thursday in Yamassoukro with General Robert Guei, who came to power after army mutineers deposed Henri Konan Bedie on 24 December 1999. Their agenda also includes meetings with the leaders of the main political parties here.

Much of the tension has to do with conditions governing eligibility for presidential elections whose date has been set for 17 September. A new constitution approved at a referendum on 2 July bars anyone who is not of Ivoirian parentage or who has had another nationality from running for president, provisions which reportedly rule out ex-prime minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara.

The tension increased last week when participants in a demonstration in support for French cooperation Minister Charles Josselin, who had called among other things for all eligible candidates to be allowed to run, were stripped and beaten in public by soldiers. Many of the demonstrators were reportedly supporters of Ouattara, who heads the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR).

The RDR is the only major party not represented in Cote d’Ivoire’s transitional government, led by the military Conseil National de Salut Public (CNSP), which includes members of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) and the former ruling Parti Democratique de Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI).

The PDCI is to meet on Saturday to decide on its candidate for the presidential elections. Local and international media have quoted party officials as saying that Guei is one of 10 people whose candidatures have been submitted to it.

On Wednesday, a group of traditional chiefs urged Guei to run for president and gave him a symbolic gift of 20 million CFA francs (about US $30,000), the fee for entering the presidential race.

They said they spoke on behalf of all the country’s traditional rulers, but some chiefs from northern Cote d’Ivoire issued a communique, reproduced in the media, in which they disassociated themselves from the group’s action.