| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa Subsaharan | |
| Opposition leader wins Ivory coast vote | |
| 2010-12-03 | |
| ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory CoastÂ’s electoral commission on Thursday declared opposition leader Alassane Ouattara the winner of the West African countryÂ’s first presidential election in a decade after missing a deadline to release the results. Election commission chief Youssouf Bakayoko said that Ouattara won with 54.1 percent of the vote, compared to 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. The results, released one day later than constitutionally mandated, still must be certified by the nationÂ’s constitutional council. Supporters of the incumbent had prevented the commission from announcing the outcome from SundayÂ’s runoff vote, saying tallies from at least four of the countryÂ’s 19 regions should be canceled. OuattaraÂ’s party accused the incumbent president of trying to steal the long-awaited ballot. It remained unclear whether President Laurent GbagboÂ’s supporters would accept ThursdayÂ’s announcement. In a sign of tensions over the vote, officials backing the ruling party physically prevented the commissionÂ’s spokesman from announcing a large share of results as he sat in front of a microphone late Tuesday. The ruling party loyalists stood in front of the TV cameras as the spokesman attempted to speak, shouting over him. And then they yanked the results from his hand and tore them up as the cameras rolled.
| |
| Posted by:Steve White |