Ivory Coast Elections 2nd Tour in Los Angeles, CA (USA)

Côte d'Ivoire (also called the Ivory Coast) Presidential election was held in two rounds. The first round was held on 31 October 2010 and a second round, in which President Laurent Gbagbo faced opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, was held on 28 November 2010.

The vote was originally scheduled to be held in 2005. The election was delayed several times due to the Ivorian Civil War and difficulties involved in the organization and preparation of the election. A peace agreement between the government and the New Forces (former rebels) was signed in March 2007. In late April 2009, it was announced that the election would be held by 6 December 2009, and that the date would be announced shortly. On 15 May 2009, the date was announced to be 29 November 2009. On 11 November, the election was postponed again due to delays in the electoral roll. It was announced on 3 December 2009 to be held in late February or early March 2010.

The election, in which ethnicity and the country's north-south divide played a crucial role, ultimately pitted President Gbagbo, who had a strong support base in the south, against the long-time opposition leader and former Prime Minister Ouattara, who had overwhelming support in much of the north. The events leading up to the second round and following it were characterized by serious tension and some incidents of violence, but the election was considered by observers to be essentially free and fair.
On 2 December 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) released provisional results showing that Alassane Ouattara had won the election in the second round with 54% of the vote. The President of the Constitutional Council immediately declared that the results were invalid, however. The next day, the Constitutional Council declared Gbagbo the winner. The US, UN, EU, ECOWAS, as well as the influential former colonial power France affirmed their support to Ouattara.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivorian_presidential_election,_2010

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Laurent Gbagbo
• Alassane Ouattara