Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ABIDJAN447
2006-05-03 16:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

COTE D'IVOIRE: GBAGBO ISSUES COMBATIVE STATEMENT

Tags:  PGOV PREL ASEC IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2852
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0447 1231641
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031641Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1259
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1348
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0307
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000447 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: GBAGBO ISSUES COMBATIVE STATEMENT


Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000447

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: GBAGBO ISSUES COMBATIVE STATEMENT


Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) On April 25 President Gbagbo issued a statement
through his press spokesman laying out his views on how the
country should move forward toward elections. The statement
was typical of Gbagbo: combative, defensive, disingenuous and
hardly presidential. Gbagbo denied that he had agreed at the
April 8 meeting of Ivoirian political leaders with AU
Chairman Sassou that identification of citizens and
disarmament should proceed simultaneously. He called that
meeting a "lecture" given by Sassou and noted that no signed
agreement or communique resulted from it. Gabgbo questioned
the "common sense and logic" of trying to identify citizens
in the north when war has "massively displaced" the
population there, and rebels who have committed "massacres,
excesses, acts of humiliation and all sorts of torture"
continue to "run wild." However, since these matters come
under the authority of the prime minister, Gbagbo said he
would accept simultaneous identification and disarmament.


2. (C) Also typically for Gbagbo, the statement went on at
length to assert that he, and only he, has carried out all
the commitments made in the various Ivoirian peace
agreements, while others have implemented these agreements
"cunningly and dishonestly." He referred in particular to
paragraph 6 of the Pretoria II agreement, which he said
withdrew from the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) any
authority to register voters. Rather, Gbagbo asserted, the
Pretoria II agreement gives this authority to the National
Institute of Statistics (INS),which is only required to
report its actions to the CEI. (Note: In fact, the relevant
sentence of Pretoria II reads, "The leaders reaffirmed that
the IEC is the sole institution in charge of the electoral
process and the National Institute of Statistics should
report to the IEC on matters relating to the elections.") He
asserted furthermore that the voter registration list is
"permanent" and only needs to be updated, and that to seek to
establish a new list would be to call into question all of
the previous peace agreements and require their renegotiation.


3. (C) Comment. The "permanent" voter list Gbagbo is
referring to is the one that was used in the elections that
brought him to power as president and gave his FPI (Ivoirian
Popular Front) party control of the National Assembly in

2000. The opposition has claimed since before those
elections were even held that many opposition supporters,
especially northerners, were excluded from that list. If the
voter registration process were to be truly transparent and
fully inclusive it would not matter whether the previous list
was updated or a new list was prepared: the outcome would be
the same. However, by insisting that registration must
remain in the hands of the INS, which is controlled by Gbagbo
cronies, he is conceding that the only way he can win the
election is by cooking the voter registration list. End
Comment.

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