DATE=10/04/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-47118
TITLE=IVORY COAST-POL
BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT:
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ivory Coast is bracing for a curfew and state of emergency that the military government is due to impose on Friday. The measure comes amid heightened tension over the government's efforts to block the candidacy of a leading opposition figure ahead of this month's presidential elections.
TEXT: The elections on October 22nd are to return Ivory Coast to civilian rule following a coup last December. The coup deposed President Henri Konan Bedie and put General Robert Guei in power. Despite protests from the United States and other members of the international community, Mr. Guei is running for president.
The military leader has been working to disqualify his opponents - most notably, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara - considered by some analysts to be Mr. Guei's main challenger.
A new constitution, approved in a July referendum, places strict nationality requirements on presidential candidates. One of its clauses stipulates that a candidate's mother and father must be Ivorian-born in order for him or her to be eligible to run.
Political analysts here and abroad say the clause was inserted in order to keep Mr. Ouattara out of the race, since the government claims one of his parents was born in Burkina Faso.
The debate is the strongest example of friction between native Baule-speaking Ivorians and immigrants who make up about a third of the country's population. The foreigners are largely from Burkina Faso. They came to work decades ago, at a time when Ivory Coast -- the world's top cocoa producer -- was ranked among West Africa's most stable and prosperous countries. With the economy in decline for years now, anti-immigrant sentiment has been growing.
/// NAT SOUND, ESTABLISH & FADE UNDER ///
La Sorbonne is a street corner in Abidjan's central business district (Plateau), where people from all backgrounds gather to voice their opinions. The arguments often become passionate. This man, a native Ivorian, tells V-O-A he resents the presence of immigrants and thinks the constitution should be applied in order to stop people of foreign ancestry from gaining access to the presidency.
/// ACT OF IVORIAN MAN IN ENGLISH ///
We must give Cote d'Ivoire to the Ivorians, because, in our country there is no place for Ivorians to work. Everywhere you look for a job, there is a foreign country boy there. So now, we don't want to accept anybody again.
/// END ACT ///
Supporters of Alassane Ouattara are largely members of the Malinke ethnic group of northern Ivory Coast. Many of them are of Burkinabe origin. This Malinke woman is among hundreds of people who are camping outside the home of Mr. Ouattara in Abidjan, forming a human chain to prevent government agents from arresting him. She says she is angry over government claims that Mr. Ouattara is not fully Ivorian.
/// ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH & FADE ///
She says, I am ready to give my life for that man. Those men, [in the government], are afraid of him. They fear him because he dreams of doing good things in this country. And to counter that, she says, they will try to do anything.
Supporters of Mr. Ouattara have vowed to retaliate if he is banned from running.
The Ivorian supreme court is preparing to issue a list of candidates deemed eligible to run. With that list due out by Saturday, the government is anticipating outbreaks of violence in the coming days.
On Wednesday, Information Minister Henri Cesar Sama announced a curfew and state of emergency lasting from Friday through Monday.
/// THIRD ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH & FADE ///
The minister says, the state of emergency is put in place as there are threats that could put in danger the flow of the economy and the provision of public services.
In remarks directed specifically at the party of Alassane Ouattara, the Guei government this week warned it will crack down swiftly on any attempt to disrupt the electoral process.
The country's political turbulence, starting with the December 24th coup, has hurt Ivory Coast's economy. Foreign investment has dropped. In Abidjan's normally bustling Treichville district, Lebanese and Moroccan merchants say business has slowed considerably due to uncertainty over Ivory Coast's future. This storeowner tells V-O-A he is not restocking his inventory.
/// FOURTH ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH & FADE ///
All of our orders are on hold. We cannot bring them here because we want to avoid problems like those of December 24th, the day of the coup, when stores were looted. That's why everything is stopped. We are waiting to see what happens. We're waiting for the October 22nd elections. If everything goes well, and order returns, we will then restock what we have not been ordering.
Signs of tension are evident throughout the city, and soldiers and police are being deployed in the outlying districts (of Abobo and Adjame) that are home to many immigrants and supporters of Alassane Ouattara. (Signed)
NEB/LR/KL/PT
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