Main politicians issue joint declaration

Cote d'Ivoire's main political leaders on Tuesday issued a joint statement based on a meeting they held to iron the country's socio-political problems. The final communiqué, which came nearly a month after their meeting, comprises 24 points, 14 which review and adopt recommendations from a national reconciliation forum while the others were added by the four politicians. The 22-23 January meeting, held in the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro, was convened by President Laurent Gbagbo and attended by former president Henri Konan Bedie, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara and one-time military leader General Robert Guei. Key recommendations from the reconciliation forum, held from 9 October to 18 December 2001, included one proposing that Ouattara be granted a certificate of nationality. His three counterparts, the communique said, asked him to apply for a certificate of nationality. This, however, does not necessarily mean he will be able to run for the highest offices here. Much of the political debate in Cote d'Ivoire has to do with whether or not Ouattara, leader of the opposition Rassemblement des republicains, is eligible to run for president or parliament. Both offices require their holders to be Ivorian citizens of Ivorian parentage. Ouattara's detractors claim he is Burkinabe, and therefore ineligible, which he denies. In 2000, the Supreme Court barred him from taking part in presidential and parliamentary elections on nationality grounds. The leaders also agreed to a ban on coup d'etats and other undemocratic means of obtaining power, as recommended by the forum, pledging "to do all they can to avoid a repetition of such a situation" - a reference to the 24 December 1999 coup d'etat that brought Guei to power. Other recommendations adopted included granting amnesty to those who committed wrongs during the country's recent troubled past, but only after the justice system has punished them - creating a national body to address land-related conflicts, and setting up a government of national unity. The resolution relating to such a government said "The President of the Republic has reiterated his will to see the political parties participate in the management of state affairs". It did not elaborate. The 10 points added by the leaders include the creation of a national electoral commission, proportional state-assisted financing of political parties, the issuing of national ID cards and the recognition of the legitimacy of the current government. All four called on the state to end the harassment and victimisation of people from northern Cote d'Ivoire by the police, who often considered them foreigners. [Northerners usually have the same names as people from across the border in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.] Another innovation from the Yamoussoukro encounter was the setting of a timetable for implementing some of the more important resolutions, including Ouattara's application for a certificate of nationality, the drafting of a law establishing the national electoral commission and the creation of a commission of legal experts to organise an international symposium on Cote d'Ivoire's constitution. Last month's "Big Four summit", as the Ivorian press called it, was convened to solidify the forum's recommendations and find solutions to other social-political issues. It had been announced by Gbagbo at the end of the forum, in which leaders of political, religious, professional, labour, and civil society organisations participated. According to most observers, the forum marked the end of a troubled phase in Cote d'Ivoire's history that began with the 1999 coup d'etat and which was characterised by civil unrest, insecurity, political violence, human rights abuses and the deterioration of the country's relations with the outside world. Since the end of the forum, Cote d'Ivoire's prospects have improved, both nationally and internationally, according to diplomatic sources. For example, France, the country's leading donor, and the World Bank have resumed lending to the country. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are also expected to do so.