POLITICS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Another UN Resolution, Another Controversy

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Fulgence Zamblé

ABIDJAN, Nov 6 2006 (IPS) - For Siméon Konan of the non-governmental organisation Initiative for Peace (Initiative pour la paix), based in Côte d’Ivoire’s financial centre of Abidjan, efforts to bring peace to the West African country leave something to be desired – a recent United Nations Security Council resolution on Côte d’Ivoire notwithstanding.

Resolution 1721, adopted unanimously last week in New York, gives President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny another year in office; this is in a bid to have authorities disarm militias and identify voters ahead of elections to be held before the end of October 2007.

The resolution has also sought to bolster Banny’s powers so that he can push the peace process forward more vigorously. In the process, presidential powers have been reduced, Gbagbo being accused of obstructing efforts to normalise the situation in Côte d’Ivoire. (The prime minister was appointed to his post last December to supervise the disarmament of rebels and government militants, and organise polls. Côte d’Ivoire has been divided into a rebel-held north and government-controlled south since a failed coup in 2002, with rebels claiming that they took up arms to fight discrimination against northern communities.)

However, Gbagbo has warned that aspects of the resolution which conflict with the Ivorian constitution will not be respected. This could put the president on a collision course with Banny, if the prime minister’s expanded powers are alleged to be overstepping the constitutional mark.

“Things are still unclear because the politicians have failed. They should give way to civil society and a truce to get the country out of this crisis,” said Konan.

These words were echoed by Madeleine Ekponan, a primary school teacher in Abidjan. “They (politicians) accept anything that suits them personally, but reject everything else. The politicians need to take a political leap and look toward the interests of their country,” she told IPS.

Last Friday, an opposition newspaper went one step further in denouncing recent developments, giving the headline “U.N. Proposes 12 Months of Hell for Ivorians” to describe the extended political transition brought about by the Security Council.

“The resolution is partially rejected,” political analyst Maurice Faé said in interview with IPS. “That should be expected, especially since in the government, the resolution will create a split at the highest levels.”

An initial draft of the resolution, proposed by France, supported the primacy of the Ivorian constitution – but stipulated that the prime minister could make appointments to civilian and military posts. However, reservations by other member countries of the Security Council led to the suppression of these provisions.

Still, Albert Tévoèdjré, a former representative in Côte d’Ivoire of the U.N. secretary-general, insists the resolution has merit.

“We think that it’s a precise resolution that should not raise any objections,” he noted during a radio interview.

Resolution 1721 follows resolution 1633, taken in 2005 by the U.N. – also with a view to having elections held in Côte d’Ivoire. Polls were initially scheduled for October 2004, but have now been postponed twice.

In the face of Gbagbo’s warnings on the constitutional legitimacy of the latest resolution, the prime minister’s supporters have come out swinging.

“President Gbagbo is rowing against the resolution’s current,” said Adama Bictogo, Banny’s political advisor. “He just showed his refusal to support the resolution and his will not to exit the crisis.”

The rebel New Forces (Forces Nouvelles) has welcomed the fact that the resolution complies with its request for joint leadership by government and rebels of the country’s armed forces. For the past few months, the New Forces has been calling for warring armies to be merged and led by officers from the two camps.

But the opposition Rally of the Republicans (Rassemblement des républicains. RDR) does not believe that Gbagbo should have been retained as head of state.

“The chief of state should have been removed and replaced with a High Council of the Republic to monitor implementation of the peace process and support the prime minister in the exercise of his duties,” said an RDR statement issued Thursday in Abidjan – adding that the suspension of the Ivorian constitution might have been in the better interests of the country.

Another opposition grouping, the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire), also expressed its regret “that Gbagbo was retained”, and appealed to the international community “regarding the stalling attempts by the head of state and…for complete enforcement of the new resolution to truly put an end to the crisis”.