Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ABIDJAN1135
2007-11-09 11:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

COTE D'IVOIRE: PM'S OFFICE TOUTS OPA PROGRESS AND

Tags:  PGOV IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2757
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #1135/01 3131101
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 091101Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3725
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 001135 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W-EPLUMB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: PM'S OFFICE TOUTS OPA PROGRESS AND
CRITICIZES DISSENT WITHIN GOVERNMENT

Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SILVIA EIRIZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 001135

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W-EPLUMB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: PM'S OFFICE TOUTS OPA PROGRESS AND
CRITICIZES DISSENT WITHIN GOVERNMENT

Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SILVIA EIRIZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) Summary. The Prime Minister's spokesman, Meite Sindou,
held a press conference November 6 to discuss the status of
government efforts to move beyond the current crisis. The
most interesting new bits of information he gave: the PM and
the President make joint decisions; the President will make
four visits to the North before the end of the year; the PM
and the President have agreed to a new disarmament scheme;
the Minister of Interior has presented to the PM a plan on
how to carry out identification of the population; and, the
OPA Evaluation and Monitoring Committee will meet November 8.
According to Sindou the Nov 8 meeting will include a
decision about which entity will be chosen to produce Ivorian
ID cards. Sindou declined to answer questions about a
possible cabinet reshuffle but said it was unacceptable for
members of the government to criticize the pace of OPA
implementation and singled out the PDCI for such behavior.
End Summary.

STATUS OF OPA IMPLEMENTATION
--------------



2. (SBU) The Spokesman for the Prime Minister's (PM) Office,
Meite Sindou, held on November 6 the first of what are
supposed to be weekly press conferences. The subject of the
first press conference was the current status of the
country's "emergence from crisis." Sindou stated that the
PM's goal is to stabilize the country, improve rule of law,
and hold transparent elections. Sindou said the PM is
committed to implementing the Ouagadougou Political Agreement
(OPA) and that the President has expressed his good will
regarding the process. Sindou said the PM's office seeks to
work cooperatively with the Presidency to render government
institutions operative and described the permanent dialogue
and collaboration between the President and PM as
conciliatory governance that allows them to make joint
decisions. Sindou criticized the peace agreements that
preceded the OPA for setting up the President and Prime
Ministers as antagonists. Sindou announced that the
President will make 4 visits to the north of the country
between mid November and the end of December. He also

underscored that the Prime Minister will not be a candidate
for the Presidency (Note: At 35 years of age, PM Soro is too
young to run for President. End Note.)


3. (U) Sindou cited the creation of the Integrated Command
Center, the reopening of 30 Courts of Appeals, the return of
Prefects and Sub-Prefects to their posts, and the beginning
of the "audiences foraines" process (mobile tribunals that
will issue birth documentation to those whose births were
never registered) as examples of forward movement on
implementation of the OPA. Sindou noted that the Prime
Minister met with Prefects and sub-Prefects in early October
and provided them with funding and materials to allow them to
return to their jobs. He explained that the return of
bureaucrats to all parts of the country will be a gradual
process.


4. (U) Sindou stated that the identification process called
for by the OPA began with the September 25 launching of the
"audiences foraines." Sindou attributed the delay in the
commencement of the "audiences foraines" process to the June
29 attack on PM Soro's plane, noting that before the attack
the PM planned to begin the process on July 5. According to
the spokesman, the "audiences foraines" have issued 21,000
documents ("jugements suppletifs") and only 6 percent of
requests have been rejected. (Note: The numbers provided by
the government and the UN have consistently not been the
same. The UN reported the week of November 5 a total of
13,285 documents issued but also gave a rejection figure of 6
percent. End Note.) Sindou said preparations are underway
to activate the identification process and added that the
Minister of Interior has presented a plan to the PM. Sindou
said that the "audiences foraines" will need to conclude by
February 2008. (Note: The OPA provides that the "audiences
foraines" run for 3 months. According to the UN, as of
October 29, only 24 teams out of a total of 111 teams had
been deployed.)


5. (C) Sindou announced that the next meeting of the OPA
Evaluation and Monitoring Committee will take place November
8, in Ouagadougou. Sindou stated that a "technical operator"
to produce Cote d'Ivoire's national ID cards will be chosen
during the meeting. He described the choice of the
"technical operator" as a "strategic and political issue."
In a response to a question, Sindou added that the choice of
the technical operator is up to the President and PM and
clarified that he did not say that a "new" technical operator

ABIDJAN 00001135 002 OF 002


will be chosen. The previous one might be chosen or a new
one identified. (Comment: Selection of a "technical
operator" has been controversial, and the subject of heated
action within the government since the Prime Ministership of
Banny. SAGEM, a large French company, had been identified as
the most likely candidate to win the contract, despite its
reported tender of US 100 million, five times that of a rival
Belgian group. Banny's staff included a French national who
was a former SAGEM executive, which infuriated the UN
Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and prompted a sharply
worded letter demanding a detailed explanation of how the
process was being decided. Since Soro became Prime Minister
in April 2007, the question of the "technical operator" has
remained a polemic, with SAGEM's fortunes variably waxing and
waning, according to observers close to the decision-makers.
The Prime Minister's Office is reportedly leaning towards
accepting SAGEM, but is pressuring them to substantially
reduce the contract cost. End Comment.)

NEW PLAN FOR DISARMAMENT?
--------------


6. (SBU) Sindou stated that a committee has been working
since July on the functions and total troop strength for Cote
d'Ivoire's new, integrated armed forces. In response to a
question about disarmament, Sindou said that if the PM did
not believe in disarmament, he would not have signed the OPA.
Sindou said disarmament has begun and cited the
rehabilitation of the sites identified for grouping of
combatants and the burning of weapons during the July 30
"Flame of Peace" ceremony in Bouake as concrete results.
(Note: The burning of weapons at the Flame of Peace ceremony
was widely seen as symbolic. End Note.) According to Sindou
the PM has proposed a new disarmament scheme to which the
President has agreed. It would allow former combatants to
choose to join the new Armed Forces or, if they choose not to
or fail to meet the new Armed Forces criteria, to participate
in either the civic service program or a rehabilitation and
reinsertion program. (Note: Sindou did not explain the
difference between civic service and the
rehabilitation/reinsertion program. The civic service
program has not yet been set up. End Note.)


7. (U) Sindou answered 'no comment' to a question about
rumors of a Cabinet reshuffle. The press had recently
reported that the Forces Nouvelles (FN) had called for such a
shakeup. Sindou noted that it is likely that the PM will meet
with FN representatives soon and that the issue is likely to
come up since it often does. Sindou said it is unacceptable
for members of the government to criticize the government for
the slow pace of OPA implementation. He criticized the
Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (Parti Democratique de la
Cote d'Ivoire - PDCI) in particular for such behavior, noting
that its members control strategic ministries that can impact
on the speed of OPA implementation.
NESBITT