Ivory Coast will Vote in Election

Ivory Coast will now vote in a presidential runoff election that has inflamed political tensions in the world producer of cocoa higher, facing a candidate backed by the north by the rebels against the owner who receives support from the south.

At least six people have died in clashes in the accumulation of the vote, prompting the government to impose a curfew at night for six days to 2 December. The curfew has delayed the start of voting by more than 7 hours in many areas of the capital.

"I feel a little scary," said Celestino N'dja, a public official, who queued to vote in the commercial capital, Abidjan. "I came early and then I go home. We have suffered over the past 10 years, we are tired of the crisis."

President Laurent Gbagbo, who has ruled for a decade, received 38 percent of the vote in the first round on Oct. 31, winning 10 of the 13 regions in the south. Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, won 32 percent of the vote, which was dominant in five of the six northern regions. A third candidate, Henri Konan Bedie, won 25 percent of the vote.

Gbagbo's supporters, 65, hold Ouattara, 68, leader of a revolt in 2002 that divided the country, a charge he denies. The rebels say they tried to seize power because the northerners were treated as second class citizens. Growth has averaged 1.1 percent in the eight years since the conflict began in the country remained dependent on cocoa out of the wave of foreign investment in African nations such as China.

'Unique opportunity'

"This presidential election has politicians in Ivory Coast with a unique opportunity to end a decade of crisis," said Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a statement by email on 25 November. "Since the announcement of the results of the first round, the weather has deteriorated."

Both campaigns have intensified the negative rhetoric, prompting the Atlanta-based Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization, to encourage candidates to end the "personal attacks made in a threatening tone."

Both Gbagbo and Ouattara "have extremists in their ranks and there is no guarantee that the loser accepts the results," said Dominique Aka Assal, vice-president of the Ivorian Civil Convention, in an interview Nov. 22. "It's all or nothing for them."

However, during a televised debate on 25 November, the two candidates agreed to abide by the results announced by the electoral commission. Ouattara called for account to be released within 24 hours of the end of the vote at 5 pm today.

Economic Progress

Promote the development may be the best way to avoid a future of ethnic tensions, said Rolake Akinola, West Africa analyst at Eurasia Group.

"I live on one meal a day and can not marry because they have the means to feed a family," said Moussa Fofana, an unemployed 30 year old, as in line to vote in Attiecoube, a poor neighborhood Abidjan. "Many young people in Ivory Coast as I live a life without prospects, without hope. We really need a change."

The percentage of 21 million Ivory Coast people living in poverty increased to 49 percent in 2008 from 38 percent in 2002, according to a United Nations survey.

The situation is worse in the north, the International Monetary Fund said in a report in 2009. The annual per capita income in the North was 191,540 CFA francs (390 dollars) and 281,660 francs in the Central North, compared with 348,247 francs in the South-West.

"The promise of infrastructure development and economic opportunities people have to meet in order to keep a lid on ethnic tensions in the long term," said Akinola.

Ivory Coast's neighbors in Africa's second largest gold producer in Ghana, is in talks with companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. and ArcelorMittal on investment projects, the Minister of Energy and Mines, said Augustine and October 5 . Channel Islands-based Randgold Resources Ltd. poured its first gold medal in Tongon mine in the country on November 8, the company said.

During the televised debate, said Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire to cooperate with Liberia and Guinea to the natural resources of the mines, while the goal of doubling the production of cocoa within 20 years. Ouattara said he wanted to reduce taxes to attract investors and reduce tax evasion.