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africanews

Campaigns for the second round run-off of Ivory Coast's presidential election began last Saturday for incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and former PM Alassane Ouattara - the two best finishers out of 14 candidates from the first round held on October 31. The campaigns will last for one week, with the run-off holding on November 28.

Both candidates used harsh words on each other in the first day of campaign, an attitude many observers and human rights groups fear could worsen the already tense situation in a country emerging gradually out of almost a decade of political crisis.

Gbagbo blasted his rival at a rally in Agboville, a small town south of Abidjan from where he chose to launch his campaign, calling him the man behind the country’s 1999 military coup and the father of the current rebellion.

Ouattara countered at a rally in central Abidjan accusing Gbagbo and his FPI party of assassinating former head of state Gen. Robert Guei, who was killed in the early hours of the September 2002 coup d’etat, which degenerated into a proper rebellion that still occupies the northern parts of the West African onetime economic power of the sub-region.

Religious and human rights organisations have been multiplying calls for a responsible and peaceful campaign, to avoid physical confrontations of militants from both camps who have long been exchanging verbal missiles.

On Friday Nov.19, a student’s union group known as FESCI, which largely supports Gbagbo, fell out with youths from the opposition coalition known as RHDP in Abidjan, following a minor misunderstanding at a campus restaurant.

The police used tear gas to disperse the growing crowd as each camp began using mobile phones to call for reinforcements. More than 20 youths including some policemen were injured.

An Abidjan-based diplomat, who preferred to be anonymous because of the sensitive situation, told AfricaNews that the worse was yet to come.

“What you’ve seen the students do is just a curtain raiser on terrible things coming in the election,” he said. “We have in play, the two extremist political parties and militants of the Ivorian politics, who are ready to do anything to have a favourable position. If nothing is done to put things in order as soon as possible, we may see the worst.”

A face-to-face TV debate between both candidates has been slated for Thursday Nov.25.