{"id":10931,"date":"2011-12-11T15:21:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T15:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/cote-divoire-low-turnout-in-first-post-gbagbo-poll\/"},"modified":"2011-12-11T15:21:35","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T15:21:35","slug":"cote-divoire-low-turnout-in-first-post-gbagbo-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/11\/cote-divoire-low-turnout-in-first-post-gbagbo-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"Cote d’Ivoire: Low Turnout in First Post-Gbagbo Poll"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Radio<\/a><\/p>\n

11 December 2011<\/p>\n

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There was a low turnout Sunday in C\u00f4te d’Ivoire’s first general election after the ousting of former president Laurent Gbagbo, whose supporters boycotted the poll.<\/p>\n

But voting day was calm after a campaign during which five people were killed.<\/p>\n

At midday there were far fewer voters than in last year’s hotly contested presidential election, which resulted in fighting between supporters of Gbagbo and those of current President Alassane Ouattara.<\/p>\n

With Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) telling people to stay home, mobilising voters was the main challenge for Ouattara’s supporters.<\/p>\n

Ouattara urged voters to ignore the boycott call, saying the new parliament would be “truly consensual [and] democratic … and contribute to the strengthening of democracy in our country”.<\/p>\n

But RFI’s reporter and UN peacekeeping mission officials said that turnout was low.<\/p>\n

That proved that the government is “illegitimate”, according to FPI spokesperson Laurent Akoun.<\/p>\n

“The masquerade has thrived. We are staying in our corner. We have given no call for violence or to prevent voters from voting,” he said.<\/p>\n

The FPI has called Gbagbo’s transfer last week to the International Criminal Court a “political kidnapping” and said it will pull out of the reconciliation process.<\/p>\n