Africa News Summary : News Headlines : Discussion Forums

ABIDJAN, July 7 (AFP) - Ivory Coast's local elections began peacefully Sunday, with tight security in place over fears that a row over inadequate voter identity cards could turn violent.

But voters only trickled out to the more than 16,000 polling stations throughout the west African country that opened at 8:00 am (0800 GMT), ready for Ivory Coast's five million voters to choose from among 71,000 candidates vying for 2,034 regional posts in 58 regions.

Journalists reported a poor turnout in several quarters of Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan. Reports from the city and elsewhere said polling material arrived late at several stations, rendering them non-functional for hours.

An Nampa-AFP journalist in the posh Abidjan quarter of Cocody filed a report hours after voting officially began, saying: "The ballot boxes have just arrived and there are no voter booths in the polling stations as yet."

Ballot boxes arrived after 11:00 a.m. at a polling station in Cocody, where President Laurent Gbagbo was due to cast his vote.

Heavy rain delayed the start of the elections in the northern region of Korhogo.

In the teeming Abidjan working-class district of Abobo, reputed to be a stronghold of the main opposition Rally of Republicans (RDR) party, there were minor tensions between voters and polling officials over the contentious issue of the voter identity cards.

Similar incidents were reported from Korhogo but they did not lead to any violence. Security forces were omnipresent at all polling stations.

Reports from key towns such as Abengourou, Bondoukou, Daloa, Gagnoa and Sassandra said voting was peaceful but marked by a low turnout.

Although Sunday's polls are low-level, they are significant as an indicator of far Ivory Coast's return to normalcy after a December 1999 coup which was followed by two years of socio-political tensions and violence in which more than 300 people died.

The run-up to the polls was, however, marred by violence which took on ethnic overtones. At least four people died and several dozens were injured in the clashes.

The polls have also been overshadowed by a row over which documents voters have to present to be allowed to cast their ballots.

Three of the four main parties have disputed the independent electoral commission's decisions that only voters with new identity cards will be allowed to cast their ballot.

Only the ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) of President Laurent Gbagbo has accepted the electoral commission's ruling. The commission has barred the use of old cards that were valid for the 2000 legislative and presidential polls.

The opposition RDR party claims only about 2.5 million of the estimated 5.1 million voters have got the new cards.

But according to Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou "more than 4.5 million Ivorians will have their identity cards" in time for the vote.

The elections follow a key decision last week by Ivorian judiciary to officially recognise main opposition leader and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara's Ivorian nationality.

Ouattara had been barred from the 2000 elections on the grounds that he hailed from neighbouring Burkina Faso.

His exclusion was partly responsible for fuelling the political and ethnic violence that swept Ivory Coast after the December 1999 coup.
- Nampa-AFP

•  Big Brother Africa 3: The audacity of Hazel!
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?