The streets of Abidjan were nearly deserted Friday. Shops were shuttered and residents peered out of their windows.
Civil war threatens to re-ignite in this West African nation that was once an economic hub of West Africa, with the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara both claiming victory in last month’s poll. The international community said Ouattara won but Gbagbo has refused to step down.
In Abidjan’s Adjame area, a neighborhood of Ouattara supporters, Gbagbo’s soldiers patrolled and fired in the air Friday. Burning tires were on the roads.
Troops loyal to Gbagbo and forces backing Ouattara engaged in a firefight on Thursday in Abidjan. Clashes also occurred in the capital, Yamoussoukro, and in the northern town of Bouake and the central town of Tiebissou, said Traore Drissa, a lawyer who runs the Abidjan-based Ivorian Movement for Human Rights.
Ouattara’s supporters were to march later Friday on government buildings and hold a Cabinet meeting, said Guillaume Soro, whom Ouattara named as his prime minister.
“It is sad that in 2010 in our country, it’s not enough to win an election,” Soro said. “Even when you win this election, you are still obliged to confront tanks to govern. This is unacceptable.” On Thursday, Ouattara’s supporters tried to seize control of the state television building. They did not get close to the building, which was heavily protected by Gbagbo’s troops. Police and soldiers sealed off streets around it with roadblocks and armored personnel carriers.
Ouattara’s camp said 30 people died. Gbagbo’s people said 20 died, including 10 police officers killed by protesters.
Many hoped the elections in the world’s top cocoa producer would reunite the nation following a 2002-03 war that split it in two.
Ohoupa Sessegnon, a spokesman for Gbagbo’s party, accused Gbagbo’s opponents and France of being behind Thursday’s violence, which he called “regretful.” During a press conference in South Africa Friday, Sessegnon claimed French soldiers infiltrated the ranks of Ivorian soldiers and posed as civilians during the protest to ensure it was violent.
“They want to kill, so that the killing that takes place can be blamed on President Laurent Gbagbo,” Sessegnon said.
Sessegnon, an Ivorian, chairs the South African-Ivorian chamber of commerce in South Africa and is spokesman for the local chapter of Gbagbo’s party. He said he called a news conference in Johannesburg to try to rally other Africans to oppose what he claimed was a French plot to topple Gbagbo. He said Gbabgo has angered France by seeking trading partners other than France.
Sessegnon also accused France of lobbying other Western powers to oppose Gbagbo, and rejected a call from Washington for Gbagbo to step down and leave the country.
In Washington, a senior Obama administration official said Thursday the US and other nations told Gbagbo to step down and leave the country within days or face travel and financial sanctions.
The European Union is giving Gbagbo until the weekend to leave the presidency or face EU sanctions and possibly prosecution by the international court.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday all EU nations unanimously want Gbagbo to leave office in the former French colony, or Gbagbo and his wife will face an assets freeze and visa ban.
Sarkozy said Gbagbo was responsible for turning one of Africa’s most stable nations into one where innocent people are shot in the streets by his supporters. Sarkozy noted that there are international courts to deal with such crimes.
Kenya’s prime minister on Friday sharply criticized Gbagbo for illegitimately hanging on to power and urged him to step aside.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s words carry particular weight because many observers of Kenya’s 2007 presidential election believe Odinga was the rightful winner, but incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was instead declared winner, sparking months of violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in this East African nation.
“African democracy must come of age,” Odinga said. “We have witnessed in this transition period the old order resisting change, where leaders are refusing to cede power even if they have been democratically defeated.” Odinga did not reference his own electoral situation, but three years ago during Kenya’s election crisis Odinga’s supporters would have used those same words toward Kibaki.
“It is my position that a leader who defies the position delivered by the people through the ballot does not care about the preservation of democracy, the progress of democracy or the isolation of that country. Such a leader is out to serve himself and nothing else,” Odinga said, referring to Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast has been operating with two presidents and two governments since a disputed Nov. 28 runoff election.
Ouattara was declared the winner by the country’s electoral commission and was recognized by the UN, US, France and the African Union as having beaten Gbagbo, the incumbent.
The next day, however, the constitutional council overturned the results after invalidating a half-million votes from Ouattara strongholds.
