The hope of Ivoriens and all genuine democracy lovers to see the world's richest cocoa producer united through the recent presidential election is gradually becoming a nightmare, with each passing day, except the ongoing stalemate is resolved peacefully.

Côte d'Ivoire remains locked in a wobbly political showdown, with incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo refusing to surrender to his political rival and former prime minister, Alassane Ouattara, despite preponderant evidence that the latter won the November 28 presidential runoff election. After the Independent Electoral Commission announced a 54 to 46 percent outcome in favor of Ouattara, the country's Constitutional Council, at the instance of Gbagbo, overruled the commission, cancelled results in nine northern precincts, thus giving Gbagbo a 51 to 49 percent victory over Quattara.

The current display of intransigence by Gbagbo is utterly condemnable. It runs at painful variance with all known ethics and ethos of democracy in any nation inhabited by people of sound minds.

What Gbagbo is using to the detriment of the people he pretends to serve is the power of incumbency against the popular wishes of the people. Practically the whole world appears united against Gbagbo's obnoxious stay in office.

RDR

President-elect Alassane Ouattara.

United States President, Barak Obama, Nigeria's President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS among others have not only recognized Quattara as the duly elected President of that country, they have unsuccessfully pleaded that Gbagbo should respect the wishes of Ivoiriens and the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, the ongoing madness in that country appears to have surreptitiously crept into our own electoral system after all, except that we seem not to be paying attention to the menace or we are too shy to admit the reality.

There is a trend in our nation's politics where almost every election is contested in court.

That in itself may not be a bad omen; what is worrisome is a situation where nearly every election result is now a subject of litigation with the result that the electoral commission has lost the power to declare the winners to the courts. It is just as well that Quattara refused to be cowed by Gbagbo's court contraption. The support of the international community has been a great encouragement to his side in the dispute. Gbagbo should do the right thing by ceding power to the winner of the presidential election. Given the recent history of Cote d'Ivoire, none of its leaders should do anything to plunge the country into aggravated crisis.
Relevant Links

* West Africa
* Nigeria
* Côte d'Ivoire
* Governance
* Human Rights

The current crisis in Côte d'Ivoire is a test on the integrity of the AU. It also presents an opportunity for the organization to exert global leadership position by making itself a rallying point for the rest of the world to completely ostracize Gbagbo's loathsome government and fight him to submission. It is achievable and it is a task that must be accomplished, at all cost.

The AU must continue to press for Gbagbo's resignation and discourage internal pressures to settle for any power-sharing arrangement considering the flagrant violation of democratic process and principle. Gbagbo's emissaries are currently busy combing neighboring African states, seeking to justify his case and gain support within ECOWAS and the AU.

Any negotiations with Gbagbo will greatly damage the AU's credibility for future mediation efforts and may not possibly enjoy acceptance from the Ivoirian people. The AU should therefore stick to its gun.

Gleaned from thisday editorial.