Global Policy Forum

By Peter Murphy

Ivory Coast's president said on Tuesday he would use his constitutional powers to let a main opposition rival stand in October elections, a key demand of rebels holding the north of the world's top cocoa grower. President Laurent Gbagbo's decision marks a major step forward for a chequered peace process in the former French colony. Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara's exclusion from a 2000 poll was seen by many as one of the root causes of the war.

"I have decided to use Article 48 of our constitution. From now I will take exceptional measures demanded by the situation," Gbagbo said on state television in the West African nation. "As a consequence, Mr Alassane Dramane Ouattara can, if he wants, present his candidature in the presidential elections of October 2005," he said.

Hopes for an end to the crisis in Ivory Coast, split in two since rebels seized the north in September 2002 after a failed attempt to oust Gbagbo, have been growing since a peace deal was signed by the warring sides in South Africa this month. As part of that deal, rebels and government forces have started pulling heavy weapons back from front lines across the country. They have also pledged to study proposals for starting full disarmament in May.

The October elections are meant to help end a three-year state of neither war nor peace in what was once an economic powerhouse in a volatile region. However, organising polls could prove difficult if the country is still divided. Gbagbo's statement was a response to South African President Thabo Mbeki's request that all candidates who wanted to should be allowed to contest the October poll. Mbeki was appointed mediator by the African Union and helped broker the peace deal.

"Patriots Will Accept It"

Ouattara's eligibility has long been one of the most divisive political issues in Ivory Coast. The former prime minister from the mainly Muslim north was barred in 2000 under Article 35 of the constitution, which says both parents of a candidate must be of Ivorian origin. One of Ouattara's parents is considered to come from Burkina Faso.

Many of Gbagbo's most radical young supporters blame Ouattara for the war and accuse him of supporting the rebels. But some agreed to accept Gbagbo's ruling. "No Patriot agrees with this but all of the Patriots will accept it," said Eujene Djue, leader of the Union of Patriots for the Total Liberation of Ivory Coast, a pro-Gbagbo militia. "In order for (Ouattara) to be candidate a lot of people died," he said. "(The rebels) obtained his candidature through arms. It is a serious precedent for this country."

There was no immediate reaction from the rebel New Forces. In the past, they have refused to lay down their weapons until Gbagbo implemented political reforms clearing Ouattara to run. Thousands were killed in Ivory Coast's war and around one million displaced. The fighting and years of on-off peace talks have hit the economy hard and African leaders have been eager to end a conflict that threatens regional turmoil.

Some 10,000 U.N. and French peacekeepers patrol a no-weapons buffer zone between the two sides. Previous peace deals have always foundered on distrust and months of painfully slow negotiations have often been followed by brief outbreaks of fighting.

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