'No plan B' for Ivory Coast
Shaun Benton
19 August 2005
The French ambassador to South Africa told Parliament's portfolio committee on foreign affairs on Wednesday that should President Thabo Mbeki's efforts at mediating the political crisis in the Ivory Coast fall through, "there is no plan B".
Jean Felix-Paganon, briefing the committee on French foreign policy towards South Africa, Africa in general and the Ivory Coast specifically, said the French government "unreservedly" supported the peace agreement brokered by Mbeki earlier this year.
When Mbeki became involved in the Ivory Coast the French government was "very supportive" and thought that his authority and influence would carry the peace process forward, Felix-Paganon said.
Mbeki's mediation resulted in the signing of agreements earlier this year that led to a ceasefire between the warring parties of the west African nation, consensus on disarmament and agreement on an election, scheduled for October 30.
An election that is "as
free and fair as possible" is the only solution to the country's problems, said Felix-Paganon, adding that the outcome of an election would be acceptable it if was at least a "reflection of the huge aspiration for change" among the country's people.
He also said that disarmament would not be achieved in a "one-sided manner" and needed to be done on all sides, adding that the continued existence of militias in the country - which he described as the "most burning issue" on France's Africa agenda - remained a "huge problem".
South Africa hosted the key leaders of the Ivory Coast in April. These included President Laurent Gbagbo and Ivorian Prime Minister Seydou Diarra.
Opposition leaders included Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister and leader of the Rally of Republicans party (RDR), Henri Konan Bedié, of the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) who is a former Ivorian president ousted in a military coup in December 1999, and Guillaume Soro of the rebel group
the Forces Nouvelles (New Forces).
A key sticking point in the peace negotiations had been one of nationality when it came to candidates for presidential elections, but following Mbeki's intervention, Gbagbo said the constitution would be amended in a way that would allow Ouattara to stand for elections.
The constitution in that country had been changed so that only those who could prove that both their parents were born Ivorian nationals could contest in the presidential elections.
Courts had earlier ruled that Outtara's mother was from Burkina Faso.
South Africa currently has a number of officials in Ivory Coast assisting with the peace process in the divided country, including experts from the South African National Defence Force who are assisting with the crucial DDR (demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration) process.
In February French president Jacques Chirac criticised Mbeki's efforts in the the Ivory Coast peace process, suggesting he did
not understand the "psychology and soul" of West Africa in an outburst that surprised observers.
Felix-Paganon, addressing South African MPs this week, denied that the presence of French troops in the Ivory Coast represented a neo-colonial agenda and insisted that the French troops were part of an international peacekeeping force under the authority of the United Nations.
He added that France's new policy regarding Africa was one of non-interference, but that the threat of pressure from the United Nations Security Council would help the parties in the Ivory Coast focus clearly on a "reasonable system of power-sharing".
Source: BuaNews
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