Finally An Update!

While there isn't much to say about the happenings of Cote d'Ivoire at this time, Hamadoun Touré (the spokesman of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire), said that the chief of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire, will give an update on the peace process! An update will be greatly welcomed on March 17, and will give some clear answers to what has been going on. It will hopefully relief some of the angst the people of Ivory Coast are going through. More to follow soon...!

Work Cited:

"UNOCI Chief Will Present Ivorian Peace." PR-USA.net. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .

Yay For A New Government!

According to BBC News, "The new head of the independent electoral commission was selected after late night discussions between the opposition, ex-rebels and allies of the president." This statement was made two days after a new unifying government was announced. The BBC's reporter John James, reporting from Abidjan says, "for the opposition, the selection of the commission's head was key to bringing stability after two weeks of protests in which at least seven people were killed."

"Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced a new unity government late Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the president unilaterally dissolved the last one, setting off deadly protests across the country. The announcement of a new government capped 48 hours of crisis negotiations, in which Burkina Faso's president Blaise Compaore flew in to mediate discussions between President Laurent Gbagbo and the opposition parties."

Early on Friday, authorities announced the new election commission. It's now being headed by a member of the opposition and has the difficult task of preparing the long delayed elections. Out of the new 27-member cabinet, senior opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara told reporters that the opposition group will take 11 seats. Mr Ouattara also said the opposition was "suspending all demonstrations".

If you recall from my previous posts, Robert Mambe was accused of fraudulently trying to add 429,000 names to the electoral roll. Mambe was from the opposition, Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI). He was forced to step down. The new leader, Youssouf Bakayoko, "who until a fortnight ago was foreign minister, also comes from the PDCI, though he will now have to abandon all political activity." John James says, "despite two weeks of violent protests, destruction and instability not seen in Ivory Coast for several years, the political scene looks very much as it did before. The new government will include almost all the same names in the same places as the previous government, and the independent electoral commission remains much the same."

At least five protesters were killed in Gagnoa and another two in Abidjan during violent protests that have occurred in the last week alone. Soro hopes that the new government will still the protests. "Ivory Coast is going through some difficult moments," Soro said. "I call upon everyone to keep their calm." The objective of the new government, according to Sorro "is to organize elections with haste." Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore said with the formation of the new government, elections will likely be held in late April or early May.

Most of the newspapers i read were all consistent in their reporting this time. BBC, once again, seemed to provide the most articles and information about the conflict. I was surprised to find an article about it in an Arkansas newspaper. The Tehran Times, Phillyburbs, and a Swiss newspaper also had small articles about it. That shows that it was a major decision and was worth reporting. There are many more newspapers that reported this news in different parts of the world. The one's i have read all seem pretty consistent and reported the straight facts.

Works Cited:

"BBC News - Ivory Coast Agrees on New Electoral Commission." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8538365.stm>.

"BBC News - Ivory Coast Opposition to Join New Unity Government." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8540116.stm>.

"John James -." Journalisted.com. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://journalisted.com/john-james>.

"Abidjan.net Qui Est Qui? - Profil De Youssouf." Abidjan .net Moteur De Recherche Multim. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.abidjan.net/qui/profil.asp?id=748>.

"Alassane Ouattara -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alassane_Ouattara>.

"PhillyBurbs.com:." PhillyBurbs.com:. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/292/2010/february/23/ivory-coasts-pm-announces-new-unity-government.html>.

"Ivory Coast Announces New Electoral Commission - Swissinfo." Swissinfo - Swiss News and Information Platform about Switzerland, Business, Culture, Sport, Weather. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Ivory_Coast_announces_new_electoral_commission.html?cid=8372642>.

"Ivory Coast’s PM Announces New ’unity’ Government." Arkansas Online. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/feb/23/ivory-coasts-pm-announces-new-unity-government/>.

"Tehran times : Ivory Coast's PM Announces New 'unity' Government." Tehran Times Daily NewsPaper. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=214890>.

3 killed.. or was it 5.. or..?

Police officers fired live rounds on demonstrators at an anti-government rally this past week. Ivorians took to the streets to protest the government shutting down and denying citizenship to most of the people. There are different reports on the number of people killed, but it ranges from 3-5 people. While the number of victims in this attack is unknown, we do know that more than a dozen others were injured. Protests spread to at least eight cities in the Ivory Coast. The deadly protest took place in a city called Gagnoa. Gagnoa is about 125 miles northwest of Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire.

There are two newspapers that are pretty similar in their reporting. BBC News and AlJazeera.net, both say hundreds were fired upon, 3 were killed, and dozens injured. Both also have good sources, but AlJazeera goes one step further and has direct quotes from people who were actually there. Yvonne Ndege, a reporter for AlJazeera and reporting from Abidjan said, "Naturally, a lot of the people who are supporting the opposition have no choice but to take to the streets in defiance of Gbagbo and that decision that he took." BBC News has statements from second-hand sources. For example it says, "A police source confirmed to the Associated Press that there were 'Some Dead', but he could not say how many had been killed."

The New York Times started their article off by saying, "Police fired on demonstrators at an anit-govenmaent rally, killing five people and wounding a dozen others in Ivory Coast's latest protest since the president dissolved the government a week ago, the opposition said." Right in the first sentence it's different from the other sources. Which means that the New York Times was either embellishing the facts to try and get sympathy and sell more papers, or they had some info that the other newspapers didn't. One of the good parts of the New York Times article is that they quoted the U.N deputy spokeswoman who in turn quoted the U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as having expressed, "grave concern" about the Ivorian political situation.

Works Cited:

"The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

"Al Jazeera English - Africa - Deaths in Ivory Coast demonstration." Al Jazeera English - AJE. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

"BBC News - Several dead in Ivory Coast clashes." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

Côte d'Ivoire.

With a population of over twenty million people, Cote d'Ivoire (aka Ivory Coast, West Africa), has had it's fair share of struggles over the years. Ivory Coast gained their independence in 1960 and have been struggling to establish a working government ever since. December of 1999 was the first time in history Cote d'Ivoire overthrew their government. Immediately following that upheaval, Robert Guei rigged the first elections and made himself the leader. With the help of protesters, Laurent Gbagbo forced Guei out and took control.

Gbagbo has had no major problems until September of 2002, when Ivorian rebel forces, called New Force, tried to take control of the country. The rebels failed to throw Gbagbo out of power but, they did manage to claim the northern half of the country. Instead of continuing to fight, the rebels and President Gbagbo decided to jointly govern the country. In March of 2007, the rebel leader Guillaume Soro and President Gbagbo agreed to reunite the country, make a strong national army, and hold government elections. After this agreement, Soro became Prime Minister.

Now in 2010, President Gbagbo has dispersed the government and electoral commission and Prime Minister Soro has been asked to create a new government. These elections have been postponed over and over again since 2005. President Gbagbo accused the electoral commission of trying to bump up the numbers of voters by allowing people not from Cote d'Ivoire to be on the voter list. The question of who can vote ad who is classified as a legal Ivorian is sparking major protests from the millions of people who feel alienated.

Works Cited:
Wikipedia contributors. "Côte d'Ivoire." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

"Facts About Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)." World Facts. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

"Al Jazeera English - Africa - Ivory Coast government dissolved." Al Jazeera English - AJE. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

"BBC News - Ivory Coast President Gbagbo dissolves government." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.