Military

DATE=10/16/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-

TITLE=IVORY COAST / POL (L ONLY)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In Ivory Coast, opponents of military ruler General Robert Guei have called for a general strike to protest the government's exclusion of most major political parties from next week's presidential elections. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, reports the call has gone largely ignored.

TEXT: Political groups and labor unions had called for a two-day strike aimed at paralyzing the West African country. The call was aimed mainly at transport workers.

/// NAT SOUND, ESTABLISH & FADE ///

But traffic flowed normally Monday in Abidjan, with few, if any, truck or cab drivers going along with the calls for a strike. This taxi driver tells V-O-A that while he is unhappy over Ivory Coast's political crisis, he cannot afford to stay home.

///ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH & FADE///

Me, he says, I cannot take my car and leave it at home. If I leave it at home, what am I going to eat, gravel or what? That is why I am working. He says, I have to eat something. They [the politicians] told us to leave our cars at home to support their cause. If they're tired of the situation, they should stay home and leave us alone.

The call for a strike came after major political parties urged voters to boycott the October 22nd elections that are meant to return Ivory Coast to civilian rule following a coup last December that put General Guei in power.

The Guei government shut most of the candidates that had been presented to run against General Guei out of the elections.

Among those blocked from running is opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, whom many considered a serious challenger to Mr. Guei. Mr. Ouattara was disqualified after the Ivorian supreme court ruled that he did not meet strict nationality requirements as set forth by a new constitution.

The exclusion of Mr. Ouattara has caused further friction between members of Mr. Ouattara's Dioula-speaking Malinke people of northern Ivory Coast and the southern Baule-speaking people who have traditionally controlled Ivory Coast politics. (Signed)

NEB/LR/KL