Peanuts

One of the mainstays in our diet in CI was peanuts or "ground nuts" as they are called in Africa.  Our favorite waiter, Augustin (more about him later), brought these to us as we worked diligently in our terrace "office." On these blustery winter days, I long for the hot and humid afternoons with dodgy electricity on the roof in CI. I'd even take the smell of diesel over sub-freezing temperatures. Granted, I wouldn't necessarily want to be there now, per se, but the thought of enjoying tropical breezes makes doing any kind of work more palatable. Oh, Africa.

The Election

It's been a long time. But, as you may or may not know, Cote d'Ivoire has been in political turmoil for about a month. Why the turmoil? They succeeded in having an election. Isn't that what everyone Amy and I talked to wanted? Yes. Everyone in CI desperately wanted an election. They thought that it would be the cure-all for their political troubles. Our participants knew that they would need to do some work in order to achieve a stable society, but few could have predicted what actually happened.

In October, Cote d'Ivoire had their first round of elections. The way the electoral system works in CI, and much of Europe, is that the candidates win and if no one achieves an absolute majority, the two candidates with the most votes have a second round of elections. In CI's first round, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and main opposition leader Alassane Ouattara received the largest proportion of the vote. After four weeks, CI was able to hold a run-off election. In the run-off, Ouattara received 54% of the vote and Gbagbo received 46% of the vote, as counted by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). Most would say that this is a pretty substantial margin.

Unfortunately, in CI, elections have two groups separate groups that monitor them. There is one group that counts the votes (the CEI) and one group that signs off on the votes (the Constitutional Council). The Constitution in CI states that the CEI must produce the vote count within a proscribed number of days. With this vote, the CEI failed to produce the numbers by the deadline. As a result, the Constitutional Council stated that votes were invalid. By the CC's count, Gbagbo received 51% of the vote while Ouattara received 49% of the vote. Interestingly enough, the CC's head is one of Gbagbo's cronies. Leaves one to be slightly suspicious.

However, this is not the most interesting part of the whole saga. The interesting part is that neither man has stepped down and accepted the other's victory. As a result, there are essentially two governments functioning in CI. It's the equivalent of a political tee ball tie. The West, the UN, the Economic Cooperative of West African States (ECOWAS), and many others all recognize the Ouattara regime and demand that Gbagbo step down and accept his loss. However, he has not yet packed up a single Post-It note.

Violence has broken out all over the country and they have suspended foreign journalists, closed the borders, and have ceased allowing trade with the North (Ouattara's stronghold) and the South (government center). It's a scary, scary time for CI. I will try to keep up to date as much as possible.