Review of the Ivorian Press, Monday 19 August 2013
Fraternite Matin:
The Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Cote d'Ivoire, Mrs.
Aichatou Mindaoudou has said the former ruling FPI party is willing to take part
in political dialogue. She was speaking after a meeting last Saturday with
officials of the FPI who were released from detention on bail on 5 August. "As
Special Reprsentative of UN Secretary-General, I came to express the
satisfaction of the Secretary-general as well as my satisfaction and that of the
entire UN System with the positive declarations they made on their release from
prison and their decision to enter the process of political dialogue and
reconciliation," Mrs. Mindaoudou said after the meeting which took place at the
FPI party HQ in Cocody, Abidjan. Aujourd'hui highlights the
reaction of the FPI President Affi Nguessan to Mrs. Mindaoudou's visit. He said
they had discussed "the release of all political prisoners including (former)
president Laurent Gbagbo, the unfreezing of assets and the return of exiles."
Fraternite Matin:
"We are launching an urgent appeal to our brothers who were recently granted
bail and most of whom are political actors to join us in the national
reconciliation process," the President of the national Commission on Dialogue,
Truth and Reconciliation, Charles Konan Banny declared in a message yesterday
after members of former president Laurent Gbagbo's entourage were released from
detention on bail. He said he hoped other measures aimed at appeasement would
also be taken.
Fraternite Matin:
"The time to ask for forgiveness has come. I do not come as a warrior. I come as
an apostle of peace," the President of the National Assembly, Guillaume Soro
declared at the end of a 3-day official visit to Fromager region, the area of
origin of former president Laurent Gbagbo. He said the Bete people of the region
must learn to forgive today just as the Yacouba did yesterday after the death of
former head of state, General Robert Guei. Soir Info highlights
threats to Mr. Soro's life made by a senior official of the FPI party, Dano
Djedje in the Fromager regional capital, Gagnoa. Mr. Soro told the Bete people
not to talk like Dano Djedje and urged them to embrace reconciliation and
peace.
Soir
Info:
The
Bishop of Agboville, Monsignor Alexis Touably Youlo says he supports the law on
nationality on condition that it was not based on political motives and that
guarantees were taken to ensure it does not become a catastrophe in case of
failure. He told the press that his position was personal and not that of the
Episcopal Conference of which he was president.
Fraternite Matin:
A conference of local party leaders of the Ivorian Democratic Party PDCI held in
Yamoussoukro on Saturday and endorsed Mr. Henri Konan Bedie as its candidate for
the presidency of the party in view of the 12th party congress billed for early
October. Some 2968 party secretaries-general out of a total of 3000 attended the
conclave convened by Mr. Bedie. The conclave is also said to have stressed the
need to clarify the party's membership in the ruling RHDP coalition