From "Agence France Presse"
ABIDJAN,Jan 25 (AFP)- An election deadline in Cote d'Ivoire--which is under
pressure from the donor community to restore democracy--was shifted 30 days
on Tuesday.
The secretarriat of the transitional government, which included junta
officials and members of leading political parties, told the press that a
previously announced electoral deadline of October 1 was in fact wrong.
"The elections will be held before October 31 instead of October 1," a
government official said on Tuesday, a day after the first deadline was
announced.
No reasons were given for the apparent mix-up.
The electoral process will include a constitutional referendum in April,
with municipal, legislative and presidential elections to "be compl
eted by
October 31, 2000," the transition government announced in a fresh statement
released in Abidjan.
However the interim government led by General Robert Guei, who took over
after the coup that toppled president Henri Konan Bedie a month ago, failed
to announce a precise timetable for polls.
Before being ousted, Bedie's government had announced presidential
elections for October.
The international community has pressed hard for a date to be set by Guei,
who claimed to have seized power from president Bedie in order to "widen"
the political spectrum and then hold "free and fair elections".
Junta members have become increasingly irritated by calls at home and
abroad for a timetable, after the setting up of the transition government
earlier this month immediately sparked a political row.
The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) accused the junta of being partial towards
another party, the Rally of
Republicans, led by Alassane Ouattara.
Bedie's Cote d'Ivoire Democratic Party (PDCI) meanwhile had seen internal
rifts over the ex-president's autocratic style, and Guei has accused the
ousted regime of emptying state coffers.
Political wrangling aside, the new authorities know that donor assistance
is needed fast in order to remedy a severe financial crisis. And donor
goodwill is contingent on concrete moves towards restoring democracy.
The European Union, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) have indicated that they would provide financial and technical
assistance to the west African country once elections are announced.
The IMF, which suspended vital loans more than a year ago, has agreed to
send a technical team to Abidjan at the beginning of February.
Domestically, political parties sharing power in the new transition
government have also been eager to know an election date C as presidential
hopefuls Ouattara and the FPI's Laurent Gbagbo have already begaun
campaigning in earnest.
A spokesman for Ouattara's RDR party told AFP that an October election
deadline would be "absolutely apprpriate."
"We cannot rush because technical constraints need to be taken into
account," Aly Coulibaly said Tuesday.
Gbagbo has said he favored a 10-month transition period--which would in
effect end in October.
Parties are expected to be vigilant ahead of polls, as potential bones of
contention abound.
The revision of electoral lists, a process that began before the putsch,
is complicated by the fact that only 10 percent of the electorate had been
registered.
The possibility lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years is also
expected to pose problems.
The FPI has also voiced fears that voter lists may be manipulated because
of the high percentage of foreigners--who make up rough
ly one third of the
population.
Outtara and Gbagbo, once allies against Bedie, have stepped up their new
rivalry through their respective media mouthpieces.
Guei for his part has refused to reveal whether he intends to stand in the
much-anticipated polls.
END
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