ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Ivory Coast's election commission on Thursday violated a midnight deadline to release results from a crucial presidential election, as the ruling party continued to block the issuance of the final tally and the head of the electoral body went on state TV to snuff out rumors that the opposition had won.
Election commission chief Youssouf Bakayoko was seen rushing out of the commission's office less than an hour before the constitutionally mandated deadline.
He appeared on state TV shortly after to say that no official results had yet been proclaimed, a statement that appeared aimed at quenching rumors that opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had won after a Senegalese newspaper released what they said were preliminary results and a French website and TV station followed suit.
"Be patient," Bakayoko said on national television. "We're deliberating ... When we are ready, we will return to the air to communicate all the results to the entire population," he said.
Earlier Wednesday, diplomats who were allowed to enter the commission's office as well as members of the commission said that the feuding parties had agreed on results from 13 of the 19 regions of the country, representing a majority of the votes cast. But commissioners loyal to the ruling party were preventing the publication of partial results and were contesting four key regions, all strongholds of Ouattara, said one commissioner and two foreign diplomats who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Late on Tuesday in a bizarre showdown on national television, officials backing the ruling party physically prevented the commission's spokesman from announcing a large share of results as he sat in front of a microphone. 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.
This election is the first in 10 years following a civil war that destroyed the economy of the world's top cocoa producer and sent foreign investors and the nation's large expatriate community packing. The country was divided into two, with President Laurent Gbagbo ruling the government-controlled south while the north, where Ouattara comes from, remained in rebel hands.
Gbagbo's government delayed the election multiple times including in February when he dissolved the government weeks before the proposed poll date. He led the first round of voting in October with 38 percent to Ouattara's 32 percent. Ouattara has since won the endorsement of the third-place contestant who received 25 percent.
Pascal Affi N'Guessan, Gbagbo's campaign chief, held a press conference Wednesday to say they were asking for four regions to be invalidated, claiming their voters had been intimidated including in precincts where mobs showed up wielding machetes.
All four of the regions are pro-Ouattara, and in three of the four the longtime opposition leader netted over 85 percent of the votes in the first round.
"This wait has caused a state of uncertainty and it worries me as a candidate," Ouattara told reporters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "It is imperative that the president of the electoral commission proclaims the results immediately."
N'Guessan acknowledged that the ruling party had prevented the proclamation of partial results Tuesday night explaining that they did so because the rules were not properly followed.
"(Election Commission Spokesman) Bamba Yacouba did not respect the procedures of the electoral commission. He had to be stopped," he said.
In a statement released Tuesday and published by many Ivory Coast dailies, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked for the two sides to allow the election to go forward.
"We strongly urge the candidates to allow the tallying and reporting of results to proceed unhindered, and to honor the results when they are announced," she said. "The hard work of democracy does not end when the votes are tallied and the winners announced. It continues in the daily effort to find common ground, govern responsibly."
During the first round, results started trickling in immediately after polls closed and the election commission released them piecemeal, allowing a general picture to emerge well before the final tally was announced. By law, the election commission has until midnight Wednesday to issue provisional results. The electoral code is unclear on what happens now that the deadline passes.
State TV announced late Wednesday that a dusk-to-dawn curfew is being extended through Sunday. The curfew was declared by the Gbagbo government the night before the Nov. 28 run-off to discourage violence. Despite the curfew, supporters of Ouattara had taken to the streets in impromptu celebrations in Bouake, his fief in the north, said a resident who spoke to the AP by telephone.
They were reacting to detailed results that were published in a PDF document on a Senegalese website, and which stated that Ouattara had won. The unconfirmed results were picked up by a European news portal and was also broadcast on a French TV station, amplifying the rumor.
