Three people were killed and 58 others arrested in Cote d’Ivoire during opposition demonstrations against a third term bid for the presidency by President Alassane Ouattara in next October’s elections, spokesman for the national police Chief Commissioner Bleu Charlemagne has said.
“Unfortunately, we lost three lives, quite significant material damage here and there and an investigation is open which will allow us to be much more complete on the issue of the balance sheet,” Bleu Charlemagne told national television on Thursday.
According to the spokesman of the national police speaking on behalf of the Minister of Security and Civil Protection, “there were a total of 58 people arrested including 45 in Abidjan and 13 in the interior of the country, (who) will answer for their actions before the competent courts.”
In Bonoua, in south-eastern Cote d’Ivoire, the demonstrations were particularly violent as demonstrators set fire to the police station and the gendarmerie brigade, and ransacked the homes of law enforcement officers.
In other towns, barricades were erected and tires were set on fire, preventing people from going about their business.
The government undertakes to act with the utmost firmness and not to tolerate any hindrance to the “tranquillity” of the population, he said.
In a message, Henri Konan Bedie, president of the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI, a former ally of the government), denounced what he called the “blind repression and brutal attacks” on the organised marches.
According to Mr. Bédié, Ouatttara’s third term “is prohibited by Article 55 of the constitution which states that the President of the Republic is elected for a term of five years and is eligible for re-election only once.”
He also condemned “the arbitrary arrests of some of the demonstrators who did not perpetrate any reprehensible act and therefore calls for their immediate release,” while honouring “the memory of these brave and courageous democrats of rights and freedoms”.
“I urge the President, the guarantor of public freedoms and the Ivorian military authorities, to stop these attacks and ensure the protection of property and people wishing to freely express their opinion on issues affecting the march of our nation,” he added.
The eligibility of the incumbent president, Alassane Ouattara, has sparked a political debate in recent weeks.
While Ouattara’s backers maintain that the 2016 constitution establishes a Third Republic and resets the count to zero, the opposition are insisting on legislative continuity.
AP/ls/lb/as/APA