Fofié visits Choi

L'Expression  -
Martin Fofié kouakou has
left Korhogo for the economic capital. The commander for zone 10 is meeting
Choi, the Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Côte d'Ivoire at 9a.m
this morning. It very likely they will discuss the UN sanctions against the
Forces Nouvelles' warlord. 

After
the meeting between Gbagbo and Bédié, yesterday Guillaume Soro : "It was a
meeting of hope"

Notre Voie -
The president of the
Republic, Laurent Gbagbo, yesterday went to the home of the chairman of the
PDCI, Henri Konan Bédié. The two men had a meeting which the Prime Minister,
Guillaume Soro, described as full of hope. The head of state, Laurent Gbagbo,
and his predecessor Henri Konan Bédié met at the home of the chairman of the
PDCI in Cocody, in the presence of Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro and the
representative of the facilitator, Boureima Badini. The encounter which took
place five days before the march being organized by the RHDP, took place in two
stages: the first stage gathered the president of the Republic Laurent Gbagbo,
accompanied by INterior Minister, Désiré Tagro, the chairman of the PDCI, Henri
Konan Bédié, the Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro, and the representative of the
facilitator, Boureima Badini around the same table.
This stage lasted
from 11.36 to 12.
49. The second phase was a tête-à-tête between Gbagbo and Bédié.
This part lasted 30 minutes. At the end of the discussions, it was the Prime
Minister who spoke to the press. According to the tenant of the Prime Minister's
Office, the meeting President Gbagbo and the chairman of the PDCI-RDA
(opposition) constituted an initiative which showed the willingness of the
Ivorian political class to resolve their political problems through dialogue. A
willingness, which according to him, is encouraged by the facilitation. Mr. Soro
added that the meeting was called jointly by President Gbagbo and ex-president
Bédié. It took place in an atmosphere of conviviality, he said.
The meeting was on
the current political situation.
And on every question raised,
there was, according to the Prime Minister, there was real progress with regard
to the organisation of elections and the reunification of the country in order
to bring a definitive peace to the country. "It was a meeting of hope which will
not be the last. There will be others, » said Prime Minister Guillaume Soro. (...)

Electoral process: Appeals on
the grey list did not resume yesterday

Le Nouveau Réveil -
Announced by a
jointed communiqué from the Prime Minister's Office and the IEC to resume on 10
May 2010, the resumption of the appeals process on the electoral list, suspended
since February, did not take place. So the 1.033.988 petitioners, who are on the
so-called grey list, the list which needs to be cleaned up before being added to
the white list, are still waiting. But up till when do we have to wait for the
definitive electoral list to be published?  In
any case nobody can say. (...)
And there are two reasons for this state of affairs according to
a source close to the IEC.
The reasons are
partly political and partly financial.

The political
reasons.

The Independent Electoral
Commission, which is charged with ensuring the success of the electoral process
through consensus, wants to carry out the process with the agreement of all the
parties and the principal actors on the Ivorian political scene. (...)

The financial reasons

Our source also tells us that
there is no money. And that of the 1.3 billion budget that the IEC needs to
carry out the operation, it has only received 500 million from the government.
So the commission finds itself faced with a dilemma with regard to logistics,
and salary arrears in certain commissions. Which arrears should they pay and
which ones should they not pay? Which expense should it deal which should it
leave out?  This is the dilemma facing the institution which is led by Youssouf
Bakayoko.  

Three days before the RHDP's
march - 27,000 militiamen descend on Abidjan from the West

L'Expression
-According to reliable
sources, tens of thousands of the militiamen of the West, have decided to come
to Abidjan on Wednesday, to be profiled before their integration to the army.
According to our sources, they have sent a letter to the President of the
Republic to inform him. Of course, their action raises questions because these
militiamen are coming just three days before the march of the Youth of the Rally
of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP). These militiamen, according to
our source, belong to the Security Forces of Central West (FSCO). They are
politically engaged. The leader of the FSCO announced their journey to Abidjan
at a time when people are overcome by fear because of the forthcoming march of
opposition's youth. These militiamen according to our source said that they were
coming because of the delay of their identification. The same source explained
that when most of self-defence groups were being profiled, two entities were
arguing in the central-west. The militiamen of the FSCO have been accused by the
other group of not having taken part in the defence of the country during the
difficult times. Faced with their quarrels the profiling teams were forced to
leave. (...)

The march on May 15: The
leaders of RHDP will advise the youths tonight

Le Nouveau Réveil -The
Rally of the Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) met yesterday at the
residence of the President of the PDCI-RDA, Henri Konan Bédié. The meeting which
brought together four leaders of the RHDP, started at 17:20 Pm and ended at
19:35. Shortly after the meeting Professor Alphonse Djedje Mady made a brief
statement: "The meeting was suspended, we will resume tomorrow (Today: Editor's
note)". Before the meeting started, chairmen Bédié and Ouattara had a
tete-a-tete for half an hour. This morning, the executive board of the RHDP will
meet at the PDCI-RDA's headquarter in Cocody to continue the discussions. The
results of their work will be published in the afternoon at the residence of
President Henri Konan Bédié before all the opposition leaders. According to the
sources close to the opposition, the meeting was mainly about the march planned
by the young Houphouetists on Saturday. According to some rumours, the
opposition leaders are going to allow their youthd to hold their peaceful
demonstration on May 15. This afternoon's announcement is expected to confirm
these rumours. (...).