ABIDJAN – Ivory Coasts Constitutional Council yesterday ratified the results of a presidential election showing that Alassane Ouattara won, reversing an earlier decision to reject them.
The courts initial rejection of electoral commission results from the November 2010 poll sparked a more than four-month power struggle between Mr Ouattara and incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo that killed thousands and displaced more than a million.
Constitutional Council president Paul Yao NDre said the top legal body now accepted Mr Ouattara won the election.
“The Constitutional Council . . . proclaims Alassane Ouattara president, takes note of decisions made by [him] and declares them all valid,” Mr N’Dre announced to reporters in Abidjan.
“The Constitutional Council invites the president, Alassane Ouattara, to take an oath in front of an official audience as soon as possible. All decisions contrary to this one are null and void,” he added, referring to his previous proclamation of Mr Gbagbo as winner. Mr N’Dre, a staunch Gbagbo ally, had rejected electoral commission results showing Mr Ouattara won with an eight-point margin, upholding Mr Gbagbo’s complaint that the vote was unfair.
The court cancelled more than half a million votes in Ouattara strongholds to declare Mr Gbagbo winner in December, prompting almost universal condemnation from world powers, African leaders and the United Nations.
The resulting bloody power struggle between them was only resolved when Mr Ouattara’s forces captured Mr Gbagbo last month.
Mr Gbagbo, who remains in captivity in the pro-Ouattara north awaiting trial for alleged crimes during the turmoil, last week called for his supporters to put aside their political squabbles and help restore the economy.
Mr N’Dre later met Mr Ouattara at his temporary base in a lagoon-side hotel. Afterwards he said Mr Ouattara would take the presidential oath in front of the council on Friday. He declined to comment on whether his first decision to swear in Mr Gbagbo had been wrong.– (Reuters)