Brussels, 06/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Like the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), the European Union recognises only one President of Côte d'Ivoire: Alassane Ouattara, the outright winner of the presidential elections and the only one to have been proclaimed as such by the independent electoral committee. Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, announced this on the evening of Friday 3 December in an official declaration, published on behalf of the European Union, speaking out against the stolen democratic process of the country.
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, on Monday 6 December reaffirmed his implicit support to Alassane Ouattara and his (equally implicit) condemnation of the victory snatched by the outgoing president, who also proclaimed himself president after the Constitutional Council declared the results invalid. Speaking at the start of the European Development Days in Brussels, Barroso said: “Last week we saw the unfolding of a story we have unfortunately seen too many times. The story of democratic elections whose results were not accepted by those who were defeated, thus putting at risk the stability and peace in their country. I am referring to the situation in Ivory Coast. Similar situations have happened too many times in the past and they are one of the main causes of poverty and instability. This should not be like this. This is no inevitability”.
EU prepared to take sanctions. On Friday evening, Catherine Ashton said: “I welcome the declaration of the special representative of the Secretary-General, Mr Choi, attesting to the quality of the electoral process in Côte d'Ivoire, the fact that the results published by the independent electoral committee are representative of the will of the Ivorian citizens and declare Mr Ouattara the winner of the elections. I congratulate Mr Ouattara on his victory and call on all parties to the electoral process to respect the will of the people and to accept the results of the electoral process as certified by the special representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. I appeal to all parties for calm”. Having taken note of the fact that the Security Council was prepared to take appropriate measures against those obstructing the peace process and, in particular, the work of the independent electoral committee, the high representative added: “the European Union is prepared to take its responsibilities in this matter”.
The condemnation of JPA. From Kinshasa, where they were meeting for their ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), members of the European Parliament and ACP MPs strongly “condemn the decision of the Constitutional Council to invalidate the provisional results published by the independent electoral committee of Côte d'Ivoire”. They also “called on all parties concerned to show the greatest restraint after the proclamation of the definitive results by the Constitutional Council of Côte d'Ivoire and to use only legal means for any redress”. The Joint Parliamentary Assembly “refuses to recognise the results proclaimed by the Constitutional Council, which it considers run counter to the will expressed by the Ivorian people in the ballot boxes”, said the declaration, which was published on Saturday 4 December.
An illegal government. Michael Gahler (EPP, Germany), a member of the JPA and president of the delegation of the European Parliament with responsibility for relations with the pan-African Parliament, stressed that “if the proclaimed winner of the presidential elections does not represent the will of the Ivorian people, then the new government is illegal. This must have consequences for relations between Cote d'Ivoire and the European Union, and also for intra-African relations in the framework of the African Union”. (A.N./transl.fl)