Parties agree to work towards national unity

Leaders of Cote d’Ivoire’s main political parties agreed to work towards a government of national unity at a meeting on Thursday with West African heads of state.

“They made the commitment to promote the establishment of a government of national unity, whatever the result of the next elections (to be held on 17 September) with a view to unity, harmony and reconciliation,” read a communique issued after the meeting.

Participants in Thursday’s discussions, held in the capital, Yamassoukro, included presidents Mathieu Kerekou and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Benin and Togo and Cote d’Ivoire’s head, General Robert Guei.

They also included representatives of the country’s four main parties:
Laurent Dona Fologo of the former ruling Parti Democratique de Cote d’Ivoire; Alassane Ouattara, head of the Rassemblement des Republicains;
Front Populaire Ivoirien head Laurent Gbagbo; and Francis Wodie, leader of the Parti Ivoirien du Travail.