Crisis at IEC – UNOCI and COSIM look for solutions
Demain - « The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi, on Saturday met with a delegation of the Superior Council of Imams (COSIM) led by its president Cheik Aboubacar Fofana on Saturday, 6 February 2010, to discuss the latest developments in the electoral process. Mr. Choi and Imam Fofana stressed the need to end the current political impasse following the polemic surrounding the production of a list comprising 429,000 persons by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). They also reaffirmed the importance of preserving the achievements made in the electoral process. UNOCI's head the President of COSIM agreed to continue their joint efforts to quickly resolve the situation. [...] »

Blockage in electoral process, budget insufficient - John Kuffor claims: ''The UN could give up''
Notre Heure – «It was with a press conference that the former Ghanaian president, John Kuffor, yesterday, Sunday ended his visit to Côte d'Ivoire. « The UN could give up », this was what Kuffor told the press with regard to the multiple blockages and budgetary difficulties that the UN encounters with regard to the crisis-resolution process. (...) « The United Nations is worried about the peace process in Côte d'Ivoire. The UN representative in Côte d'Ivoire is concerned that the Security Council could arrive at a point of budgetary fatigue. If there is no peace, the UN could give up. This is why Choi came to see me to see if I could have a positive impact on the actors involved in the crisis-resolution process, » said Kuffor with regard to his discussions with Choi. [...] ».

International inquiry on Mambé affair - Why Choi said no to Soro
Notre Voie- «The Prime Minister wrote to the Special Representative asking advice from New York. He is a representative and not the head of the United Nations. It is normal that if he is asked certain questions, he has to refer to those who gave him his mandate. Everything should be done to ensure that this incident does not cause untenable delays. This is what the United Nations' appeal means». These were the words of Mr. Hamadoun Touré, UNOCI spokesman to the daily newspaper L'Expression during an interview with the newspaper on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, confirming in civilised terms information which we had which said that the UN had categorically refused the Ivorian Prime Minister's request to the United Nations to open an international inquiry on the list of 429,000 petitioners. (....). According to sources close to UNOCI, Mr. Choi sent the Prime Minister request to his superior hierarchy in New York. They were refused due to the fact that «this not priority at the moment. [...] »

Ivorian Crisis/ the Mambé affair: Why Choi is taking a position
L'Inter – « The responsibility of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Choi Young-Jin, is often referred to in the affair of presumed fraud on the electoral list. A problem which is the talk of the town on the Ivorian political front. The head of the United Nations in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), whose duty imposes neutrality in these sorts of discussions, is accused of partiality in the Mambé affair where he is expected to be categorical with regard to the departure of the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission from his post. Choi has bluntly taken a position in this affair, in which his arbitration role recommends that he distances himself in order to allow solutions and compromise to triumph. The UN official is even suspected of having taken the side of the presidential camp which gives comfort t the opposition. But, when we look closer, the attitude of the UN official, can be explained as the same as the about-turn of the South African president, Thabo M'béki, sent by the African Union to intervene in the Ivorian crisis.[...]. Today it is practically the same scenario which is being played out with the head of UNOCI, who is even accused of campaigning for Mambe's departure with certain Chanceries. A witness at the meeting during which Beugré Mambé was put in the hot seat to explain what he had been accused of, the UN official did not appreciate the actions of the first commissioner of the next elections in Côte d'Ivoire. The response of the IEC chairman did not convince the special representative of Ban Ki-Moon, who, according to our sources, no longer believes in Mr. Mambé's capacity to organize elections without hurting the Ivorian political process.[...] »

Conclave of the Forces Nouvelles- Final statement
Source: Forces Nouvelles website - "The political, civil and military authorities in the Forces Nouvelles met on 7 and 8 February 2010 from 12.00pm to 1.00 PM in Bouaké, in accordance with the resolutions of the Forces Nouvelles' conclave held on Sunday 31 January 2010 to examine the military and security issues of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. The conclave examined the issues on:

1. Ranks and reinstatement of the salary of the elements of the Forces Armées des Forces Nouvelles who belonged to the Forces de Défense et de Sécurité de Côte d'Ivoire

2. Internships and training stemming from the conclusion of harmonization of ranks,

3. Regrouping and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of the ex-belligerent forces, on the one hand, and disarmament on the other hand,

4. Rehabilitation of the cantonment sites in Centre-North-West (CNO) zones,

5. Restructuration and reconstitution of the army

6. Functioning of the Integrated Command Centre (ICC)

(...) The analysis of the 23rd report of the United Nations Secretary General on the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire raises serious reservations in the Forces Nouvelles. Consequently, the Forces Nouvelles proposes a meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Cote d'Ivoire to clarify the aforementioned report. (...)- The Forces Nouvelles notes the decrees signed in Mankono. They invite the Government to take with diligence the decrees not signed yet. (...); - the Forces Nouvelles deplore the difficulties in the finance and reintegration contrary to the commitments made by the national and international actors; the Forces Nouvelles note that the disarmament and dismantling of militias as stated in the Ouagadougou Political Agreement has not been done. It therefore invites the ICC to show determination and vigilance in the implementation of this process (....) The Forces Nouvelles recalls that the Ouagadougou Political Agreement entrusted the ICC with providing security for the crisis-resolution process, including the security for the elections. They note and deplore the fact that the ICC is still not fully operational because of the lack of personnel, equipments and financial means. Consequently, the Forces Nouvelles launches an urgent call to the Government to resolve this."

Charged with fraud by the court; Mambé Beugré: "I'm going to stay in my post"
Soir Info - "Robert Beugré Mambé does not give up easily". Saturday, he held a press conference at his smart residence in the 2 Plateaux, to assure journalists that he will not abandon his post even though the investigation carried out by the court said he is guilty of "having put or attempted to put petitioners who were not authorized on the voters list"

Koffi Michel (JPDCI's deputy-chairman and acting Chairman for KKB on official travel: "We will accompany Chairman Mambé to his office and nothing will happen"
Le Nouveau Réveil - "The youth of the RHDP are on maximum alert since last Friday at the home of the IEC chairman Robert Beugré Mambé, where they formed a security cordon. In the following discussion, Koffi Michel, deputy-chairman of the national office of the JPDCI, acting for KKB who is on official travel in Burkina Faso, explained what the youths in the opposition want to do in the coming days with regard to the IEC affair. (...).

Gbagbo's lawyers to the Chairman of Divo Court: « the electoral list must be disinfected"- Dangerous words which reminds us of Rwanda
L'Expression - "The ghosts of "ivoirité" are resurfacing because of appeals on the provisional electoral list. Lawyers provided by Candidate Gbagbo invite the Ivorian courts to "disinfect" it by removing the supposed immigrants who have fraudulently been put on it. [...] the session on the voters list appeal in Divo revealed the presidential camp's state of mind. The lawyers taken by Candidate Gbagbo and led by M. Severin Amont used frightening terms in their plea. "M. Chairman, the electoral list is infested. We must disinfect it", they said before asking the court chairman to assume his responsibilities. [...] in Bonoua, in the native region of first lady, Simone Gbagbo, the soldiers reproach Akan women for marrying immigrants. [...] with the stigmatization of entire populations, the FPI publicly reveals the psychosis of the "invading immigrants".