OPPOSITION YOUTH LEADERS VOW TO CONTINUE PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000075

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/24
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI IV
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION YOUTH LEADERS VOW TO CONTINUE PROTESTS

REF: 10 ABIDJAN 73; 10 ABIDJAN 71

CLASSIFIED BY: Tanya Salseth, Political Officer, Department of State,
Embassy Abidjan; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Youth leaders from the two main opposition
parties in the RHDP coalition plan to continue demonstrations
against the government despite the February 22 agreement reached by
their party heads. They expressed surprise at the agreement to
participate in a new government and reinstate the Independent
Electoral Commission (CEI) with new leadership, calling the
agreement "against the interests of their political base."
Judging by their rhetoric and the tone of opposition newspapers on
February 23, it is possible that the agreement ultimately may be
repudiated by the opposition's rank and file. END SUMMARY




2. (C) RDR youth leader Karamoko Yayoro told Poloff on
February 23 that members of his wing are incensed by the February
19 killings of five protestors in Gagnoa and the February 22
killing of three people (one protestor, two bystanders) by security
and defense forces in Daloa. Yayoro said RDR youth took the
February 13 RHDP communiquA, in which opposition leaders called on
their followers to "oppose Gbagbo by all means possible," extremely
seriously, and they plan to continue following that directive until
they succeed in ousting Gbagbo. When asked why demonstrators had
burned down houses of members of the President's camp and destroyed
state property, including buses and government buildings, Yayoro
told Poloff that violence was sometimes necessary to provoke
change: "If we only march peacefully, no one will pay any
attention." Opposition youth continue to clash with senior party
members, Yayoro said, and they have warned the leadership that if
their wishes are not taken into account, party members will find
new leaders.




3. (C) In February 23 discussions with PDCI youth leader
Kouadio Konan Bertin (known as KKB) and separately with Karamoko
Yayoro, both expressed surprise at the concessions made by Alassane
Ouattara (RDR) and Henri Konan Bedie (PDCI) in their February 22
meeting with Facilitator Blaise Compaore. Yayoro and KKB said that
the decision to participate in the new government and to reinstate
the CEI with a new leadership team would have no impact on their
determination to "take our fight to the end." KKB pointedly told
Poloff that he would not take orders from Bedie or senior PDCI
leadership and would not call off protests, even if directly
ordered to do so. He noted that RHDP coalition youth leaders have
suspended protests today in order to discuss their reaction to the
agreement reached by Ouattara and Bedie. Demonstrations will
resume on February 24, he said.




4. (U) Although the government-run television station RTI
and the state newspaper Fraternite Matin optimistically reported
February 23 that the opposition would be joining the government,
opposition newspapers stated that the RHDP would stand firm against
Gbagbo, disavow Soro, and refuse to join the government - mirroring
many of the sentiments expressed by the two youth leaders.




5. (C) COMMENT: There is considerable division and
confusion within the opposition following this latest development.
Although Ouattara and Bedie have, in principle, agreed to join the
new government and instate new leadership at the CEI, their youth
wing has not been pacified. The killing of protestors in Gagnoa
and Daloa has galvanized opposition youth, who seem intent on
making their voices heard, even if it means going against the
wishes of their elders. Whether this rift in the opposition is
large enough to derail the agreements currently being negotiated
remains to be seen; what is clear, however, is that the unemployed,
frustrated youth who are burning tires and throwing rocks at buses
seem to have less and less in common with the entrenched and well
off senior leadership.
NESBITT