DJCI
President Modeste Seri appeals for calm and reason in Ivory
Coast
January
19, 2006
Modeste
Seri, President of D.J.CI who has just returned to the Ivory
Coast after many years in exile in New York, has appealed for
calm and reason in the country.
He reminded those who are rejecting the current peace
efforts and fostering unrest and hostility toward the UN
mission, that they will do enormous damage to the future of the
country if they continue. Speaking in the Ivory Coast’s
economic capital, Abidjan, he said:
“We
are on the brink of a major catastrophe here. At this stage we
should be doing all we can to cooperate with the international
community’s efforts to help us bring back peace to our divided
country. Let us not deceive ourselves; we will not be able to
restore peace and harmony without outside support.
“Our
D.J.CI Peace Plan ( see www.cwps.org
) asks for a strong
assistance from the international community for rebuilding our
state institutions and laying the conditions for a stable peace.
We must show a true spirit of inclusion and reconciliation among
all citizens and long-term residents of our country. The past politics of ethnic division and exclusion that have
been so ruinous for us have to end. A new transitional
government that is truly non-partisan and technocratic needs to
be allowed to do its work.
“Please,
for the good of our beloved country, let us stop pursuing
selfish interests. Let us cooperate with the UN to restore peace
to our troubled country. Let us not think that many UN member
states are keen to intervene in our affairs. On the contrary,
major powers have other priorities than being involved in our
unnecessary conflicts. In my many months of lobbying with the UN
community in New York and the US government in Washington for
their assistance in the restoration of peace to our country, I
realized that major powers have limited interest in the Cote
d’Ivoire. Most countries that have to pay for the UN presence
expect little benefit for themselves, so they are reluctant to
bear the costs of intervening in a situation like ours. I can
only think of one country intervening here to advance its own
interests. If we are strong and united, we can deal with it. If
we are divided we will not.
“Let
us not fall for any misguided nationalistic messages calling for
the UN to leave. True nationalism at this stage is to make good
use of the available international support to restore peace to
our country, not to discourage international assistance. All of
us Ivorians have only one interest: a genuine peace in our
country based on justice, inclusion, tolerance, democracy and
the rule of law. Nothing else will benefit our people as a
nation. The years of conflict we have experienced have reduced
our once prosperous and progressive country to a sad case that
tops the list of failed states. Is this beneficial to any one in
the long run? Is this going to be beneficial to our children and
our children’s children? No! So, let us do our best to
appreciate the opportunity we are being given and not waste it.
If we encourage the international community to leave, if we
reject their assistance, they will leave. We will all lose and
very hard times would lie ahead of us. We can still prevent
that.”
For
further comment: Modeste Seri + 225 08586948
|
