AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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he faced outstanding charges of abuse of office from when he was Minister. Former
President Bedie was disqualified for not submitting a proper medical certificate.
Following the Supreme Court decision, most international election observers decided
not to participate in the election. As a result, there were only 75 observers
nationwide, 29 of whom were EU observers who originally were there assessing the
overall security situation. The nationwide participation rate was 33 percent, and
some polling places, especially in the North, closed early because of the lack of voters.
Preliminary results showed that Gbagbo was leading by a significant margin.
However, during the afternoon of October 23, soldiers and gendarmes entered the
National Elections Commission (CNE) to stop the count. They expelled journalists
and disrupted television and radio broadcasting. On October 24, Daniel Cheick
Bamba, an Interior Ministry and CNE official, announced on national radio and television
that CNE had been dissolved and declared General Guei the victor with 56
percent of the vote. Thousands of Gbagbo supporters began protesting almost immediately,
demanding a proper vote count. Mass demonstrations continued until October
26 and resulted in numerous deaths and injuries (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.). In
the early afternoon on October 25, national radio and television reported that Guei
had stepped down.
When Gbagbo was inaugurated on October 26, gendarmes loyal to the new president
violently suppressed RDR street demonstrations held to demand new presidential
elections.
On December 4 and 5, gendarmes and police officers violently dispersed members
of the RDR who were demonstrating to protest against the invalidation of
Ouattara’s candidacy in the legislative elections (see Sections 1.a., 1.c., and 2.b.).
The National Assembly election took place on December 10 and was marred by
violence, irregularities, and a very low participation rate. The FPI won 96 out of
225 seats in the National Assembly; the PDCI, the former ruling party, won 77
seats; independent candidates won 17 seats; and 4 other parties won 7 seats. Largely
because of the RDR boycott of the elections to protest against the invalidation
of Ouattara’s candidacy, the participation rate in the legislative election was only
33.12 percent. In addition the election could not take place in 26 electoral districts
in the north because RDR activists disrupted polling places, burned ballots, and
threatened the security of elections officials.
Before the adoption of the new electoral code, the number of registered voters in
districts of the National Assembly, each of which elects one representative, varied
by as much as a factor of 10; these inequalities systematically favored the ruling
party. In August the Guei Government announced a fairer redistribution of constituencies.
Before the December legislative elections, the Gbagbo Government completed
the redistribution of electoral constituencies in line with the 1998 national census.
The Constitution was drafted by the CNSP-created Constitutional and Electoral
Consultative Commission (CCCE), which was made up of members of major political
parties and civil society; however, the CNSP made changes to the CCCE’s text prior
to submitting the draft Constitution to a referendum. The Constitution was adopted
in a referendum held on July 23 and 24 by 86 percent of those voting, the Constitution
of the Second Republic was implemented formally on August 4. The referendum
was supervised by a quasi-independent commission that included representatives
from some government ministries, civil society, and political parties.
The new Constitution and Electoral Code provide for legislative elections every 5
years and presidential elections every 5 years by a single and secret ballot. The new
Constitution also continued the tradition of a strong presidency.
General Guei and the CNSP dominated the governing of the country for most of
the year, even though a largely civilian cabinet was put in place in January. General
Guei changed the make-up of this cabinet four times during the year. The National
Assembly remained suspended until the December elections, but the Supreme
Court continued to function.
Upon assuming power in October, Gbagbo sought to include representatives from
all political parties in his government. Except for the Republican Rally (RDR), which
decided not to accept ministerial posts, most major political parties were represented
in the new Government, which is made up of 24 ministers including the
Prime Minister. Nineteen ministers are members of the FPI; three ministers are
members of the PDCI, the former ruling party, and two ministers are members of
the PIT, a minor left-wing party.
Citizens’ ability to elect sub-national governments is limited. The State remains
highly centralized. Sub-national government entities exist on several levels, and include
19 regions, 58 departments, 230 sub-prefectures, and 196 communities. However,
at all levels except for communities, which are headed by mayors elected for
5-year terms, and traditional chieftaincies, which are headed by elected chiefs, all
sub-national government officials are appointed by the central Government. Sub-na-
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