Africa’s democracy deadlock
As two candidates declare victory in Cote d’Ivoire’s elections, can Africa move towards a credible democratic system?
Why is the democratic process so troubled in Africa?
Recently held elections in Cote d’Ivoire were meant to unify the country after a 2002-2003 civil war, but instead political tensions continue to mount as Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president, and Alassane Ouattara, the opposition candidate, both refuse to accept defeat.
The international community supports the Independent Electoral Commission’s results which recognises Ouattara as the victor, and are pressuring Gbagbo to step down. But Gbagbo accuses the West of meddling in sovereign affairs and discrediting the legitimacy of his country’s constitutional council which declared him the winner.
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Meanwhile, internal security is fragile with hundreds fleeing the country and external pressure is growing with the World Bank threatening to cut aid and the EU warning of targeted sanctions if the political crisis is not resolved.
On Wednesday’s Riz Khan we ask: what do the latest in a series of chaotic elections in Africa say about the future of democracy in the region and what can be done to find alternatives more suited to the continent’s political context?
We will be joined by Attorney Douoguih, a senior legal advisor to incumbent Gbagbo, Joel N’Guessan, Alassane Ouattara’s spokesman, and Paul Collier, a professor and the director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University.
You can join the conversation. Watch the show live on on Wednesday, December 8, at 1630GMT. Repeats air at 2030GMT and at 0130GMT.