Particularly, they suggest that whilst "le Vieux" did eventually take part in an election, democracy was given no true root in the country. Power resided with factions, who derived their power from the dictator. Once "le Vieux" disappeared from the scene, these factions struggled to become the new dictator. They used ethnic and religious issues to strengthen support in their power bases, but the military struggle was all about "who will become the next Arch-Supreme-Generalissimo?"
In this view, "le Vieux" either died too soon after introducing democracy (or waited too long to introduce it) and thus didn't have the chance to really replace the old autocratic structures with democratic ones. Thus, after his death, the country descended into a war for autocratic power.
Basically, my two comments should have been one. They represent two of the main meta-narratives floating around about what happened.
Do you have, from your experiences, a view on what mix of the two approaches the reality in Cote D'Ivoire?
And do you see any signs of hope at the moment?
Once the fight for power was on, any argument to keep an opponent out of the race was valid : Robert Guei had Alassane Ouattara banned from the presidential election because of his being Burkinabais (from neighbouring Burkina Fasso) and Henri Konan Bedié wanted him out because he was a Muslim.
Being French or American is equally alien and the difference does not matter that much ; being from Burkina Fasso or Liberia is worse, by far. Laurent Gbagbo's efforts to promote the concept of pure Ivorian parentage is an evidence for that. When through hell, just keep going. W. Churchill
Houphouet had a very acute political sense and many witnesses and people close to him admitted "free elections" were his last attempt to remain in the forefront and give the appearance he still had the lead. He was already undergoing strong criticism on the grounds of fund misappropriation and outrageous personal wealth whereas the country was undergoing an economic plight. He was also considered too old to rule the country and put it back on the track to prosperity. Indeed, his date of birth was not public knowledge but in 1990 he must have been at least 85. One key factor in the disruption of civil status quo between the local, the immigrant and the French expatriate populations certainly was the economic slump. When through hell, just keep going. W. Churchill
