Ivory Coast: the tone is turning sour

By on November 22, 2010
Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara are accusing each other of being responsible for introducing the “political violence” in the country.

Gbagbo accused Ouattara of having organised the “1999 coup” and having tried three others. And Ouattara responded by accusing his rival of taking power in 2000 through a “coup” and accused the FPI, Laurent Gbagbo’s party, of having “assassinated General Guei in 2002. Alassane Ouattara has not hesitated to voice twice, in a veiled threat, against Laurent Gbagbo: We know each other here in Ivory Coast, so beware, he said, be careful, we know each other. While Gbagbo was campaigning, he presented the Presidential as a real battle between “the Democrats and the coup leaders” or “the day against the night” or “the good against the evil”. The political debate is deteriorating between the two finalists who will compete again, for the presidential seat, in November 28, 2010. President Gbagbo led the first round of polling on October dominating the country’s east, west and southern regions, and Mr. Ouattara came in second, with support concentrated in the north. Now, Central Ivory Coast is emerging as the key battleground for the November 28 presidential runoff between President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. The objective is to win over the voters that backed former president Henri Konan Bedié.

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