Ivory Coast held a presidential run-off yesterday with fears of violence after a tight race hanging over hopes that the vote will draw a line under a decade of political crisis and economic stagnation.
Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, a former history professor, faces Alassane Ouattara, a former Ivorian prime minister and senior IMF official, in a race that is too close to call and has rekindled simmering tensions in the top cocoa grower.
Gbagbo and Ouattara won 38 percent and 32 percent of the first round vote respectively, and the race to secure the presidency has brought back to the fore a north-south divide that was at the heart of a 2002-2003 war.
“The stakes are very high. The first round was very good, [but] we have seen some radicalization,” said Gilles Yabi, an independent political analyst.
After talks on Saturday with Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, who is the mediator in the Ivorian crisis, both candidates reiterated a vow to accept the results.
However, supporters on both sides have a history of taking to the streets for their demands so fears of clashes are real.
“I’m afraid we can expect some degree of violence,” Yabi said.
At least three people were shot dead by police in the main Ivory Coast city of Abidjan on Saturday, a local official said.
Earlier in the week, Gbagbo said he would impose an overnight curfew. His army chief said on Saturday it would run until on Wednesday to help stop any further loss of life from clashes that have killed at least seven people in all.
However, opposition parties and rebel forces still controlling the north of the country have rejected the curfew, which Gbagbo’s rivals fear will be used to rig the vote.
During talks late on Saturday the election commission also expressed its concern, calling on Gbagbo to ease security measures as they risked having an impact on voting.
Compaore said there had been talks to soften the measures, but gave no further details.
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 whose economy has been weighed down by years of political uncertainty.
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