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Opposition leader wins Ivory coast vote
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coasts electoral commission on Thursday declared opposition leader Alassane Ouattara the winner of the West African countrys first presidential election in a decade after missing a deadline to release the results.Election commission chief Youssouf Bakayoko said that Ouattara won with 54.1 percent of the vote, compared to 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. The results, released one day later than constitutionally mandated, still must be certified by the nations constitutional council. Supporters of the incumbent had prevented the commission from announcing the outcome from Sundays runoff vote, saying tallies from at least four of the countrys 19 regions should be canceled. Ouattaras party accused the incumbent president of trying to steal the long-awaited ballot. It remained unclear whether President Laurent Gbagbos supporters would accept Thursdays announcement. In a sign of tensions over the vote, officials backing the ruling party physically prevented the commissions spokesman from announcing a large share of results as he sat in front of a microphone late Tuesday. The ruling party loyalists stood in front of the TV cameras as the spokesman attempted to speak, shouting over him. And then they yanked the results from his hand and tore them up as the cameras rolled.
Posted by: Steve White 2010-12-03 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=310965 |