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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Ivory Coast rival candidates sworn in |
| 2010-12-06 |
| [Iran Press TV] Both candidates in Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election take oaths of office as the Constitutional Council overturned earlier results declaring opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the victor. The country faces renewed unrest as incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo was sworn in as the country's president on Saturday even though the electoral commission on Thursday declared Ouattara (Wah-tahr-ah), a former prime minister and top IMF official, the winner with 54 percent of the vote over Gbagbo's 46 percent. A few hours later, Ouattara also conducted a swearing-in ceremony, putting the two rivals on a collision course. Officials in Gbagbo's camp have alleged that massive vote fraud had invalidated the original results in most of the opposition strongholds in north of the country. Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council, reportedly allied with the Gbagbo, annulled vote results in seven provinces in the north, giving the incumbent president just enough margins to win the presidential poll. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... spokespersons for the opposition have warned that any attempt to reverse the original results declared by the election commission would incite further divisions and return the country to civil war. "We will not recognize any decision by the constitutional council taken under such conditions," said Amadou Gon, a senior aide to Ouattara, in a press briefing. Ouattara's victory has been backed by the United States and the European Union as well as the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society. UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon has reportedly expressed a "deep concern" about the Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election. The UN Security Council has warned of possible sanctions against anyone obstructing the will of the voters. Last Sunday, Ivory Coast held a second-round presidential election in the African country under tight security and an imposed curfew. There have been violent festivities since October's first round of voting, which set up a competition between President Gbagbo and Ouattara. No candidate won a majority in the first-round voting. The election has been postponed six times over the past five years due to a political dispute in the country. The poll is seen as a turning point for the country, torn in two by a 2002-2003 civil war that led to a political deadlock and harshly affected its economy. |
| Posted by:Fred |