ABIDJAN, 9 October 2000 (IRIN) – There were mixed reactions in and outside
Cote d’Ivoire to the disqualification of 14 presidential hopefuls and the
approval of five.  The results were announced on Friday by the president of
the Supreme Court, Tia Kone.

Those disqualified include Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) leader
Alassane Dramane Ouattara and the official candidate of the former ruling
Parti Democratique de Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI), Emile Constant Bombet.

The Court approved the candidature of General Robert Guei, the country’s de
facto president, as well as Laurent Gbagbo, head of the Front Populaire
Ivoirien (FPI), one of the two major parties in the government led by
Guei’s Conseil National de Salut Publique (CNSP).

The United States suspended its election assistance to Cote d’Ivoire in
response to what State Department spokesman Richard Boucher termed an
unjust decision that deprived the Ivoirian people of the right to choice
and made a mascarade of the basic principles of democracy.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said on Sunday that “the upcoming
elections is legal because it is in keeping with the Ivoirian constitution”
but that France and the European Union deplored the fact that freedom of
choice was restricted.  South Africa said the rights of the people of Cote
d’Ivoire had been confiscated.

The other three approved candidates are Mel Theodore and Francis Wodie, who
lead smaller parties, and a little known independent, Nicolas Dioulo.  No
candidate from the RDR or parties allied to the RDR was approved, nor was
any PDCI hopeful given the green light.

Ouattara called the process a “mascarade” but appealed for calm.  He said
his party would continue its political struggle.

The PDCI said the rejection of its candidates – five of whom had applied
alongside Bombet – was a “coup d’etat” against it.  Secretary-General
Laurent Dona Fologo said PDCI was astonished, bitter and could not
understand that the biggest party in Cote d’Ivoire, with 146 seats in the
former parliament, would not be represented at the 22 October presidential
poll.

Guei, on the other hand, said: “I would have wished for more candidates so
that democracy can be a reality, but I think democracy is on the right
track.”

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