Overwhelming support for new constitution

Some 86.75 percent of voters have approved the draft of a new constitution for Cote d’Ivoire at a referendum held on 23-24 July, Interior Minister Mouassi Grena announced on Tuesday. Voter participation rate was 56 percent, he said. The constitution replaces one that predated the 24 December 1999 military coup. Among other things, it limits presidents to two five-year terms, lowers the voting age to 18 and guarantees immunity from prosecution for participants in the coup and for the ruling Conseil National de Salut Public. However, much more attention has been paid to provisions stipulating that presidential candidates must be of Ivorian parentage and must never have had another nationality. These conditions would appear to eliminate Rassemblement des republicains (RDR) leader Alassane Ouattara, from the highest office, but that did not prevent him from urging his supporters to support the constitutional change. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Charles Josselin said on Tuesday that the French government noted with satisfaction that the referendum had taken place in conditions that were “generally satisfactory”. However, he said it was important for “each of the parties to participate without any artificial exclusion” in the polls, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. “We hope that the decisions that will be taken when the candidatures for the presidential elections are submitted cannot be interpreted as aimed at depriving the electors of their freedom of choice,” he added.