Sunday, May 22, 2011

Ouattara, the Ivorian presidency six months after being elected

The new president of Cote d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara, has taken office, six months after his election and after election conflict that has claimed at least three thousand lives. Among those attending the inauguration of Ouattara in Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Ivory Coast, was the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, along with more than twenty heads of state, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ouattara said that with his inauguration, "has been respected democracy and the will of the people" in a ceremony surrounded by great expectation, after post-election conflict that led to the refusal to leave office after being defeated in the elections, the former president, Laurent Gbagbo.

"It is time to create the conditions for lasting peace in the hearts of all Ivorians to foster reconciliation and national harmony," said Ouattara in the Felix Foundation Hufu Buañi for Peace in Yamoussoukro. For the new ruling, "the act that we celebrate today not a victory of one faction over another, but of national reconciliation", and he invited all Ivorians to "re-learn to live together." According to Ouattara, is necessary to "bury" the bitterness accumulated during the post-election crisis that the country has experienced since the presidential elections of November 28 "to write a new page in the history of our country." He advocated, therefore, for "reconciliation, reunification and the reunification" and said that Ivory Coast back in "the concert of nations", having been suspended from African organizations and subject to sanctions by the UN because of the attitude Gbagbo condemned by the international community.

Regarding the immediate future of Côte d'Ivoire, Ouattara announced the formation of "soon" of a government of national unity, with personalities from all political forces and civil society. He also announced the call for elections before the end of the year and reiterated its willingness to provide the country with "strong institutions." He thanked the international community for its help in resolving the conflict in the country, especially the secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, both present at the event.

The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and Operation Licorne ", the French military who supports, supported Ouattara forces in their fight to remove Laurent Gbagbo to power, with the support of the Army and the Police intended to stay in office, after ten years in office.

Among African leaders present, numbering about twenty, Ouattara expressed special thanks to President Blaise Compaore, who acted as mediator in the crisis, and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, acting president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS .) On 11 April, the Republican forces, loyal to Ouattara, Gbagbo was arrested, which is under house arrest and under investigation on suspicion of corruption and possible war crimes against humanity.

The humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Ouattara to take steps to ensure that those responsible for serious crimes committed in that country by the various factions in the past twelve years held accountable to justice. Ouattara has asked the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against humanity committed in the country.

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