Slow start to Ivorian voting after curfew

By TIM COCKS | REUTERS

Published: Nov 28, 2010 21:24 Updated: Nov 28, 2010 21:24

ABIDJAN: Voters in Ivory Coast turned out in lower numbers during early voting on Sunday after an overnight curfew delayed the start of a presidential run-off aimed at ending a decade of political and economic crisis.

Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo faces Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister and senior IMF official, in a tight race that has triggered violence and rekindled simmering tensions in the world’s top cocoa grower, divided by a 2002-2003 civil war.

Polling stations in the main city of Abidjan were not as busy in the morning as they were in the first round last month, when the turnout was well over 80 percent. Many said turnout would pick up in the afternoon.

Two observers said they had seen a similar trend.

“We are late because of this curfew, but I think everything is going well,” said Kady Traore, president of a voting station in Abidjan’s crowded, poor suburb of Yopougon.

An overnight curfew was called by Gbagbo to stem violence after at least seven people were killed in clashes between rival factions and the security force in the week before the poll.

The move underscored heightened tensions after a peaceful first round and was criticized by Gbagbo’s rivals who fear it will be used to rig the result. Former rebels still controlling the north of the country said they would ignore it.

Along the wide boulevards lined with palm trees in the once prosperous lagoon-side city of Abidjan, where security has been beefed up, voters queued to cast their ballots.

“The first round was peaceful but now we are afraid things will get hot,” said lawyer Anderson N’Guessan, as he waited to vote in Abidjan’s steamy humidity.

Gbagbo and Ouattara won 38 and 32 percent of the first round vote respectively. The race to secure the presidency has brought back to the fore a north-south divide that was at the heart of the war and five years of subsequent delays in holding polls.

“I think there is no possibility for me (to lose),” Ouattara said after voting. “We need with this election, with my election, which will be announced ... to embark on real change for the people of my country to get out of this crisis.”

Ouattara also said the five-day curfew had been lifted, but state television said that it remained in place.

In Bouake, the main city in the north of the country whose burned out hotels and looted, weed-covered banks bear the scars of the war that left it in rebel hands, polls opened on time.

“The stakes are very high. The first round was very good. (But) we have seen some radicalization,” said Gilles Yabi, an independent political analyst, referring to the risk of clashes.

After talks on Saturday with Blaise Compaore, Burkina Faso’s president and the mediator in the Ivorian crisis, both candidates reaffirmed a vow to accept the results.

But supporters on both sides have a history of taking to the streets for their demands. “I’m afraid we can expect some degree of violence,” Yabi said.

At least three people were shot dead by police in Abidjan on Saturday.

Gbagbo’s rivals fear the curfew would provide cover for tampering with results and the Electoral Commission also expressed concern.

“(The politicians) have said they will accept the results. We are waiting for them to do this,” said student Konan Koffi.

A successful poll should pave the way for reforms to help an ailing cocoa sector and lead to further investment in a nation that was once West Africa’s brightest prospect but where years of political uncertainty have discouraged investment.

Ouattara has secured the support of Henri Konan Bedie, who came third in the first round with 25 percent. But doubts remain over whether enough of Bedie’s predominantly southern supporters are ready to throw their weight behind Ouattara, who is from the north and has been accused of backing the rebellion.

Voting will also be closely watched by holders of Ivory Coast’s $2.3 billion Eurobond, which traded below 10 percent for the first time following the peaceful first round but has crept back up to around 10.3 percent.