DATE=12/27/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IVORY COAST (L)
NUMBER=2-257543
BYLINE=CHALLISS MCDONOUGH
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Life is beginning to return to normal in Ivory
Coast. The country's new military leader says he
plans to form a new government by next week. He spoke
during a day of talks in Abidjan with representatives
of all of the country's political parties - including
the party of ousted President Henri Konan Bedie. As
V-O-A's Challiss McDonough reports, the general has
urged the parties to nominate candidates for the
cabinet posts.
TEXT: General Robert Guei has given the political
parties until Wednesday to name their candidates for
posts in the new military-led government of national
unity. He said the cabinet will help govern the
country until it returns to democracy. But, as in
previous days, he did not set a timetable for calling
new elections.
The general invited opposition parties - and the
Democratic Party of now-exiled President Henri Konan
Bedie - to join the transitional government.
// OPT // The coup that toppled the president Friday
ended nearly 40-years of Democratic Party rule. //
END OPT //
The general says members of the military junta will
assume four of the cabinet posts. He says he will be
defense minister. Other top military officers will
control the security, foreign affairs, and interior
ministries. But he indicated the rest of the jobs
would probably go to civilians.
The general also said he has ordered a thorough
financial audit of the government. He said officials
will check every economic department for evidence of
misappropriation and mismanagement.
Earlier, General Guei announced the end of the curfew
he imposed three-days ago in an effort to curb rampant
looting.
Shop owners in Ivory Coast's commercial capital,
Abidjan, have begun cleaning up and taking stock of
the damage to their stores. But despite the days of
unrest, many people in Abidjan are welcoming the coup.
Some residents say it could bring positive changes to
Ivory Coast after six-years of increasingly autocratic
rule by Mr. Bedie.
Meanwhile, the ousted president has embarked on a
whirlwind tour of African capitals to lobby for
support in exile. His first stop was Nigeria for
talks with President Olusegun Obasanjo and other
senior government officials. No details of the
meeting in Abuja have been released.
// OPT // Nigeria has strongly condemned the coup in
Ivory Coast, calling for the immediate reinstatement
of the elected leader. // END OPT //
Mr. Bedie traveled to Nigeria from the Togolese
capital, Lome, where he and his family landed Sunday
after fleeing Ivory Coast on a French military
helicopter.
The Prime Minister followed him into exile less than a
day later, accompanied by the defense and security
ministers. They escaped despite orders from Ivory
Coast's new military rulers that only Mr. Bedie would
be allowed to leave the country.
General Guei said he wanted the other top officials to
stay behind to insure a smooth transition to the new
government. (SIGNED)
NEB/CEM/GE/RAE
27-Dec-1999 14:20 PM EDT (27-Dec-1999 1920 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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