Ivory Coast in crisis as rivals claim presidency

The two candidates in Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election both took oaths of office today after each claimed victory as the political crisis spiralled out of control.

Incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo defied calls from the US, France and the United Nations to concede defeat, wrapping himself in the Ivorian flag as he was sworn in for another term.

Hours later, opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara announced that he too had taken his own oath.

Today’s developments leave Ivory Coast with two men who both claim to be president, further inflaming the political chaos in the West African nation whose once-prosperous economy was destroyed by the brief 2002-2003 civil war.

US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Mr Ouattara is the rightful winner and that his victory must be acknowledged.

The top UN official in Ivory Coast is also standing by results released on Thursday by the country’s election commission that put Mr Ouattara ahead.

Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader who had served in a unity government with Mr Gbagbo since a 2007 peace deal, said today he was backing Mr Ouattara, who is wildly popular in the formerly rebel-held north. Mr Ouattara said his first act as president was to reappoint Mr Soro.

“These last days have been difficult but I can tell you now that Ivory Coast is in good hands,” Mr Ouattara said just hours after Mr Gbagbo held his inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace.

At his swearing-in, Mr Gbagbo renewed allegations that his supporters had been intimidated in the north, repeating the rationale used by the country’s constitutional council to throw out half a million ballots that were cast in Ouattara strongholds.

“You think that you can cheat, stuff ballot boxes and intimidate voters and that the other side won’t see what is going on,” Mr Gbagbo said.

Ivory Coast’s long-awaited presidential election was meant to restore stability in what was once one of the most affluent countries in Africa. Instead, the election has cast a growing shadow as the country now faces two political rivals who each claim to be leading the country.

Today, Ouattara supporters took to the streets, burning tyres and a table in one neighbourhood.

“The risk of violence between supporters of the two parties, as well as repression by Ivorian security forces against real or perceived supporters of Ouattara, is very high,” Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Mr Gbagbo’s five-year mandate expired in 2005 and the country’s first election in a decade was delayed multiple times. He claimed first that the West African country was too volatile and that security could not be assured. He later cited technicalities such as the composition of the voter roll.

The election went ahead in October but then headed to a run-off vote last Sunday. The country’s election commission announced on Thursday that Mr Ouattara had won.

However, new results released on Friday on national television by a Gbagbo loyalist who heads the constitutional council said that the incumbent president had in fact been re-elected.

Mr Gbagbo says he is the rightful winner of the run-off vote, citing the Ivorian constitution that gives ultimate authority on the issue to the country’s constitutional council, which declared him the winner.

However, Mr Ouattara pointed to the 2007 peace deal, which states that the United Nations must certify the election results. The UN maintains the vote was credible and that Mr Ouattara won the presidential election.

A former International Monetary Fund economist, Mr Ouattara became the icon of Ivory Coast’s downtrodden immigrant community in a nation that became a magnet in the region because of its prosperity.

Mr Ouattara, born in the north, had been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.