Defying international calls to step down, Gbagbo has sworn himself in for a new term and named a government, despite provisional results that gave Ouattara a near 10-point margin.
Ouattara has taken the presidential oath in a rival ceremony and refused to back down in a power struggle that risks sending the West African country, the world’s top cocoa grower, back into conflict, 8 years after civil war split it into north and south.
UN mission chief Y.J. Choi rejected accusations from the Gbagbo camp that he had meddled in internal affairs by declaring Ouattara the winner, and said an Ivorian Constitutional Council move to annul Ouattara’s victory was not based on facts.
“I am not interfering in Ivorian affairs ... I am only doing my job as requested by the Ivorian authorities,” Choi told a news conference.
“I remain absolutely certain that I have found the truth concerning the will of the Ivorian people. The people have chosen one person ... Mr. Alassane Ouattara with an irrefutable margin,” he said.
Gbagbo’s allies argued intimidation and fraud skewed the vote in the rebel-held north, a complaint the Constitutional Council — run by a staunch Gbagbo ally — upheld and used as grounds for canceling hundreds of thousands of votes.
But Choi said there had been fewer recorded acts of violence in the north than in pro-Gbagbo western districts, and noted that even when all the contested votes were stripped out of the final tally, Ouattara still had a majority.
“Even such an exercise did not alter ... the outcome of the second round,” he said.
Gbagbo remains in control of the army and state television and has shown no signs of backing down despite calls from the United States, the European Union and the West African ECOWAS bloc, which on Tuesday suspended Ivory Coast.
His camp was not available for comment on the ECOWAS move despite repeated phone calls on Wednesday. But the pro-Gbagbo Notre Voie dismissed the meeting of West African leaders in the Nigerian capital Abuja as “The Plotters’ Summit.”
Clashes with security forces and between rival supporters have left at least 28 dead and 280 wounded since Nov. 26, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, with some observers fearing the real toll is double that.
Ivorians have sought to continue life as normal and the business center of the main city Abidjan was humming with activity on Wednesday. But local business leaders have warned of looming problems for the economy unless the impasse ends soon.
“A number of businesses will not be able to pay taxes while others risk going bust,” said the CGECI business federation.
