UNOCI promotes peace in Daloa

Nord Sud  –
Twenty-four peace mediators of
universities in Daloa, on Friday, completed a three-day training session on
conflict prevention and management. At the end of the working sessions, they
said that they were now equipped to put in practice what they had been taught
without any problem. Provided with logistical support by the United Nations
Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), the training initiated by the International
Organization for Migrations (OIM) on the theme "prevention and peaceful
conflicts management", was an opportunity for the beneficiaries to analyze
conflicts and learn mediation and negotiation techniques through practical
exercises.

UNOCI's Local Transition Fund
– The example expected from international community

Le Temps  –
A Local Transition Fund aimed
at helping destitute and disadvantaged people who have been made vulnerable by
the crisis. This is a commendable gesture. The fund announced on Thursday 8 July
2010 by Kenneth Blackman, Deputy Spokesman for the United Nations Operation in
Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), is one form of support for that Ivorians, who have been
weakened by a ruinous conflict, are expecting from the international community.
The fund valued at about $1 million (500 million francs CFA) donated by the
Swiss government, even before entering an active phase, has a
more-than-friendship character. It is a humanitarian action. (...) We should
therefore encourage the United Nations because this is an example of solidarity
that is expected of the international community.

Presidential election/ Laurent
Gbagbo: "This time, the date will be the last one"

L'Inter  –
Yesterday, Sunday 11 July 2010, received in Mama, his native village, the Dan
people who were accompanied by the Mahou and Wê people, Head of State Laurent
Gbagbo promised that this time, the date for the presidential election that will
be fixed in a few weeks will be the last. "In the coming weeks, we are going to
know the date for elections, the last one. For the campaign, we are going to
fight. I am telling you and this will be a fight for Côte d'Ivoire", he said.
Scheduled for 2.00 PM, then 04.00 PM, the meeting finally started at 06.05 Pm.
And according to the guests of the Head of State, the reason is that 16
autobuses rented the day before refused to move yesterday because some people
did not agree on the holding of the ceremony. The Head of State said the
situation was unfortunate, especially in Africa, where, he said, people do not
really understand politics. "We are the standard-bearers of Côte d'Ivoire
whereas other candidates are the standard-bearers of foreign countries. We are
among those who want Côte d'Ivoire to remain in existence. This is the battle we
should fight and win", he said. To his guests, President Gbagbo said that
politics is an affair for boys and "boys should not to be scared". What I
repeatedly tell Ivorians, it is we are at home here. And when we are at home, we
should not have to fear anyone", he advised. And he added this saying: "in our
region, it is said that we can humiliate a man everywhere but never in his home.
This is why I do not fear anyone or anything". According to President Gbagbo,
the worst he could undergo in his fight was death and he said he was determined
to "fight before dying" because he is at home in Côte d'Ivoire.

Concerning the verification of
the provisional electoral list, Sokouri Bohui said: "The verification of the
provisional electoral list is the key to social peace"

Notre Voie

Notre Voie:
With regard to the verification of the provisional electoral list, we have
learned that the FPI has rejected the latest proposals of Prime Minister.

Sokoura Bohui.
: I would just like to point out that it was us, the presidential camp who asked
for the verification of the electoral list. At the beginning, we intended to
verify all the 5.3 million people of the provisional list. But after the
negotiations with the opposition, we agreed to exclude people on the 2000 list
and the merged files from the target population. We agreed to work on people who
have one of their parents on the 2000 electoral list and the merged files. The
number of these people did not exceed 1,792,000. Having this number, we agreed
on the verification methodology. We decided that the verification had to be done
at two levels. The first was the computer checking and the second the manual
checking. The computer positively checked, only 25 000 persons. Apparently the
result was therefore insignificant, since we were expecting at least half of the
1.792 million people.  However we agreed to manually check the remaining
1,767,000 people. But the Prime Minister stopped the operation arguing that if
all these 1,767,000 persons have to be manually checked we would not be able to
complete the operation on July 26 which is the deadline. And without consulting
us, he asked Sagem and the INS to find an alternative solution to reduce the
number of people who must be manually checked. Thus, after verifying these
1,767,000 people, these two technical operators found that only 166,108 had to
be verified. The Prime Minister decided that the inspection will concern only
those 166,108 people.  Then, the Prime Minister told us that these 1.767 million
people were no longer concerned by the audit but only 166,108 people. The PDCI
and the RDR agreed, because they are not interested in the verification. They
know what they have done. We think the rules of the game cannot be changed in
the course of the game. (...) we think that the deadline can be delayed a little
bit.  What are two weeks or a month when peace is at stake? The verification we
are seeking is not a simple game. We want the definitive electoral list at the
end of the operation to be accepted by everyone and to have a fair and
transparent election.  This is the argument the Prime Minister used to convince
the opposition to do the verification. Therefore we are surprised that the Prime
Minister himself is no longer committed to this principle of transparency which
is nevertheless the key of the success of the peace process he and the President
of the Republic are leading (...).