DJCI
and CUP-CI President on Ivory Coast UN SC Res. 1603
Modeste
Seri, President of the Ivorian civil society organizations
D.J.CI and CUP-CI
expressed his gratitude to the members of the United Nations
Security Council for their careful examination of the situation
in the Ivory Coast before deciding on a longer-term mandate for
the UN mission in the country.
By adopting Resolution 1603 last Friday, as an interim
arrangement to extend the mandate of ONUCI for another month,
instead of rushing into the adoption of an original draft for
the longer term, important time is being gained to study the
situation in the Côte d’Ivoire in greater depth. “I trust
that the follow up Resolution that is scheduled for adoption on
June 24 will benefit from the extra time available, and will
contain decisions effective to bring long-term peace to our
country. By then the true background to the recent tragic ethnic
violence in the West should also have been exposed”, Mr. Seri
said.
It
is clear that the serious conflict situation in the country
needs a stronger UN military peacekeeping presence. It is also
clear that elections, if they are to be credible, need thorough
preparation. The appointment of a High Representative of the UN
Secretary-General to oversee the process is a welcome
initiative, Mr. Seri said. But, the task is huge and will
require time to properly fulfill. “How the election process
could be rushed through in the four months remaining before the
expiration of the mandate of the current President, Mr. Gbagbo,
is a daunting question”, Mr. Seri commented.
To
be legitimate, difficult practical problems regarding eligible
voter identification and preparation of electoral rolls will
need to be solved. How is this to be done if there is still
ambiguity regarding people’s citizenship, since clear laws are
inexistent? How are people to register, since half the country
is not accessible to the national administration, and the
disarmament and reintegration of rebels is advancing at a much
slower pace than anticipated?
There
is also an inconsistency regarding those who are able to stand
for election. Recent agreements conflict with some provisions of
the Constitution. What if Constitutional requirements preventing
those suspected of crimes from being eligible conflicts with the
clause in the Pretoria agreement that stipulates that any
candidate from signatory parties is acceptable? What about
others, not from signatory parties, who may wish to participate?
Also, how can a peaceful electoral competition be conducted
among a people that lack experience with democratic procedures
and who have been bombarded with discriminatory and hate
inciting messages in the recent past, without there being any
efforts at reconciliation and civic education so far?
Clearly,
the three weeks until June 24 will be a time of great activity
by the Security Council to find answers to these difficult
questions. “For the sake of building a sustainable peace for
the people of the Côte d’Ivoire, I pray that these answers
are found”, Mr. Seri said.
For further
comment, Juan Federer +1 212 579 4206.
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