Peacekeeping –
Y. J. Choi lectures to a group of Italians

Fraternité Matin
 –
The Special Representative of the United Nations
Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y. J. Choi,
made a call, on Tuesday in
Pisa, a town in western Italy, some 200 km from Rome, for priority to be given
to peacekeeping in Africa. Speaking at a seminar attended by students and
researchers of the
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna University,
Mr. Choi explained the evolution of peacekeeping over the past sixty-two (62)
years. From 1948 to 1988 (in 40 years), 18 peacekeeping missions have been
registered throughout the world. From the 90s, there has been an explosion in
this domain with the creation of some forty peacekeeping missions, most of them
in Africa. During the same period, civilians constituted 80% of victims in
contrast to previous conflicts where the losses were mainly military. Given
current developments, UNOCI's chief explained, an increase in these operations
is to be expected. (...)

 

Verification of the voters'
list – Gbagbo yesterday in Yakro: "Abide by the modus operandi"

Le Nouveau Courrier  –
"Abide by the modus operandi accepted by all parties in mid-June" : If one was
to summarise in one sentence President's Laurent Gbagbo's message to the
technical institutions involved in the preparation of presidential election,
regarding the verification of presidential election and voters' list, that would
be it. Receiving the representatives of Sagem, INS and IEC as well as experts of
the member parties of the CPC at the official residence in Yamoussoukro,
President Gbagbo asked a clear question: "How did we arrive at 170,000 persons
to be verified whereas we began with almost 1,800,000 persons?" (...) Finding
their explanations inconsistent, the Head of State firmly asked them to abide by
the modus operandi approved by consensus. (...)

 

One of our sources has
rejected the date of 26 July that Guillaume Soro has announced for the end of
the appeals process: "He probably gave this date to Bédié and Ouattara to woo
them, but Gbagbo has not validated it". The presidential camp's experts affirm
that the verification can last two months and it should take place at the same
time as the appeals process, globally, and ... disarmament". (...)  

 

The IEC wants to propose a
timetable by itself to the Prime Minister

Fraternité Matin  –
the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has decided not to discuss the issue
of the electoral timetable with the institutions involved in the electoral
process. In this regard, it therefore requested and obtained on Monday, at a
meeting at the prime Minister's office, the authorization to take charge of
that, in accordance with the law, which gives this prerogative to the IEC alone.
Since yesterday, therefore, the IEC office has been awaiting the presentations
by the four sub-commissions that have been created and which are "structures of
reflection and proposition", said the spokesman for the institution, Bamba
Yacouba, contacted by telephone. (...) The caution exercised by the commission,
which is not understood by the international community, was explained by Mr.
Bamba, who tried to be reassuring. "The IEC wants to organize elections, but not
at any price. We want to have all the guarantees. Thus, when the operation
starts, we will not have to review it. Very soon, we will announce the start of
the appeals process in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Human
Rights. But we will need to have the provisional voters' list that will be
produced by Sagem and INS," he said. The spokesman added that the data of the
pre-appeals process should be available within 48 hours and Sagem is now working
on the last forms from abroad. Then, the IEC and partners will

compare the collected data to
ensure their consistency. (...)

 

 

Pr. Ouraga Obou on the
authorization of new presidential candidates: "I do not see how it could legally
be possible"

 

Le Mandat
 – The question of the
possibility of new candidacies for the presidential election, recently suggested
by President Gbagbo and the source of panic within the PDCI, was answered
yesterday by Prof. Ouraga Obou on ONUCI-FM. Mr. Obou, Professor of Law at the
University of Cocody and one of the drafters of the constitution of the Second
Republic under the late General Robert Gueï, was clear on this matter. "In any
case, the Constitutional Council has already published the list of candidates
and we are waiting for the date of the election. So I do not see how, legally,
new candidacies could be possible," the constitutional expert said. Should we
say that the debate is closed? Since in Côte d'Ivoire everything works in
reverse, we should wait before drawing any hasty conclusions. (...)

 

Yao Kouadio Seraphin (JUDPCI)
- "We will resume street demonstrations very soon"

 

Le Patriote
 - The chairman of the Youth
of the Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire (JUDPCI), Yao Kouadio
Seraphin, sees no alternative to street protests to force the Government to hold
elections, he said in an interview. "The only action that President Gbagbo knows
and understands is street demonstrations. We have no choice" he said (...)

 

Boundiali-Tengréla: The
National Programme for Community Reintegration and
Rehabilitation continues demobilization

 

L'Expression
 - The National Programme
for Community Reintegration and Rehabilitation (PNRRC) does not want to abandon
a single ex-combatant. For this reason, PNRRC staff are going to various towns
in the Savannah region. After Korhogo, Ferké, Ouangolo and
Niéllé
they are visiting the departments of Boundiali and Tengrela from Monday to
Thursday. "Coming here is another chance we are giving to the ex-combatants",
Satigui Koné, head of communications at the PNRRC, revealed. He added: "The
PNRRC is aware that for one reason or another, some ex-combatants could not go
to Korhogo to be demobilized. We wanted to facilitate the process by coming to
find them where they were" (...). The PNRRC provided the press with the results
of demobilization in Korhogo, Ferké, Ouangolo and Niéllé. Of the 2152
ex-combatants targeted, 1074 or 49.91% have been demobilized.