Member Country News
Following the disputed election results in Cote d’Ivoire, there has been a wave of support for Dr Alassane Dramane Outtara in Malawi. The country’s President, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, currently leads the African Union.
On 6 December, in the Malawian Parliament, Hon. Khwauli Msiska spoke out in favour of ADO and was duly seconded by Hon. Abubakar Mbaya of the United Democratic Front. He issued the following statement:
“Mr. Speaker Sir, I stand in this house today a very sad person, sad because of the way some governments in our continent are conducting themselves especially during elections where a genuine winner is robbed of victory. The trend is now gradually and steadily developing whereby voters are robbed of their democratic choices soon after elections by incumbent governments that refuse to accept defeat and handover power.
A case in point are the elections which have just been concluded in Ivory Coast where the opposition leader Dr. Alassane Ouattara won with 54% of the vote and the results were duly announced by the Independent Electoral Commission of that country only to be overturned by the Constitutional Council and declared the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo the winner.
The UN election observers alongside other international observers endorsed Dr. Alassane Ouattara as the winner. Hence, notable figures such as the UN Secretary General Dr. Ban Ki-moon congratulated the long time opposition leader on his poll victory and urged Gbagbo to “do his part for the good of the country and cooperate in a smooth political transition of the country.” Likewise, world leaders and bodies including US President Barrack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Union, and ECOWAS echoed Ban’s support for Ouattara.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is also pleasing that in an emergency meeting on Saturday, the African union (AU) backed Mr. Ouattara as President according to France 24 website. Further to this, the former South African President Thabo Mbeki was assigned by the AU to mediate on this matter, an initiative that we should all applaud.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I, therefore, call upon this House and the AU Chairman our President Prof Dr. Bingu wa Muntharika to urge the leaders of Ivory Coast to respect and restore the democratic wishes of their people expressed through elections that made Dr. Alassane Ouattara emerge victorious in the Africa’s Cocoa rich nation.
I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.”