Reelection of Laurent Gbagbo: Letter to Nicolas Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa
Côte d'Ivoire: Following the reelection of president Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in the sights of France for ten years for the offense of non-compliance with operating rules of “Françafrique”, the French head of state Nicolas Sarkozy has deployed all the heavy artillery at his disposal to void the will of the Ivorian people expressed through the ballot box. At a time when he is seeking feverishly how to militarily intervene in Côte d’Ivoire without jeopardizing the expatriated French nationals in Côte d’Ivoire and in other African countries who observe very carefully what is happening in Abidjan, we are addressing him through this open letter.
Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca,
I do not know about you, but as far as I am concerned, I find it very exasperating to be mistaken as an idiot by a bandit, to borrow the term used by the French weekly Marianne to qualify you.
Your conflicting relationship with the truth and your addiction to scams and shady deals of all kinds are historical, as demonstrated by your involvement in the Woerth-Bettencourt affair, the Karachi attack, the burglary of the offices and homes of journalists investigating the pots sticked to your heels, not to mention your blatant lies about your presence in Berlin on the day of the wall fall, or about the so-called approval of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to your policy of expulsion of Roms populations. I do not even mention the day you have pilfered a pen in Romania, or when you called one of your fellow citizens an “asshole” on television.
I watched all your foolish interventions as a spectator, not being so much concerned with everything related to Gaule. I went out of my indifference three times only: in August 2006, while you were still Interior minister, I dedicated an editorial about your immigration policy to you, then in July 2007 when you insulted the Africans in Dakar, and lastly in December 2008, when you stood on your hind legs “to demand the departure of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.”
I will not hide anything from you, Mr. Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca: I am among those who do not like France. That’s the way it is: it's visceral, it's genetic, it's historical. One must say that the colonial past of France in so-called “Francophone” Africa was bloody enough to negatively taint our relationship in a sustainable manner and that the neo-colonial political prevarication that you continue to deliver through the nebula of Françafrique does nothing to fix this, quite the contrary.
Yesterday, in an official statement on the Ivorian presidential election, you said that “the Independent Electoral Commission had fulfilled its mission with rigor.” Mr. Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, I think we have a very different understanding of the notion of rigor. Let’s take randomly the results of the Bandama region, as mentioned in the official minutes by the electoral commission you have so warmly congratulated.
For better illustration, I scanned the document. At this point, we will not even discuss the alleged atrocities committed during these elections, although it is worth noting that the representative of the candidate of LMP was obliged to sign the minutes under pressure. Facts, just facts.
Let’s take a close look at the hard work that you have so much appreciated from CEI members. Don’t go too far: simply add up the numbers column by column. All calculators in the world will find that instead of 374,196 registered, the figures compiled in the above document gives 373,834 as the actual result.
The second column is even tastier Mr Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca. The exact total of “regular voters” resulting from numbers immortalized by your friends from CEI gives 178,555, instead of the 292,702 mentioned. A difference of 114,147 voters. Oh my! How rigorous, what precision in the calculations indeed.
It gets better in the column of “non-registered voters who voted”. The computation of their own numbers give a score of 5,522 people, but it shows 5612 (a difference of 90 votes).
Where it gets downright incredible is when it comes to valid votes. To recall, the valid votes are total voters (those not enrolled + regular voters) minus the number of invalid ballots. Take the city of Bouake. According to the minutes, there were 48,301 regular voters plus 2,761 unregistered voters, from which are deducted 2,662 invalid votes. This therefore gives 48,400 votes cast, right? Hell no! In Bouaké, the rigorous method that you applauded with such eagerness and vigor, suddenly gives 159,588 valid votes. No kidding. We must believe that they have themselves been so surprised that they “forgot” to allocate these supernatural 108,617 votes to candidates. Thus, in Bouaké, the candidate Laurent Gbagbo won 22,845 votes, while Alassane Ouattara 42,070 votes. This gives a total of 64,915 votes. Which does not match with the miraculous 159,588 votes cast in accordance with CEI nor with the 48,400 true valid votes.
What about the total votes of Alassane Ouattara in the Bandama region? When you add up the figures of the five electoral districts, there are a total of 149,598 votes. But this figure is suddenly transformed into 244,471 votes. 94,873 providential votes appeared there as if by magic.
The actual participation rate is thus 47.52%. Do you realize the political implications of this figure? Clearly, Mr. Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, this means that Baoulé people did not follow Bédié’s watchword. They massively stayed at home. The participation rate has gone from 77.55% in the first round to 47.52% in the 2nd round. More than a third of those who participated in the first round have abstained! What a disavowal!
In conclusion, Mr Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, considering the minutes of the Bandama region, located in the CNO area under rebels’ control, and taking into account the figures mentioned and added correctly, the RDR candidate would have obtained 84.21 % of votes cast, while the LMP one would have had 23.52%. This gives a total of 107.74%, which is a bit annoying, I'm sure you will agree with me. We know your concept of “rigor” is shaky, but to this point...
Mr. President of the French Republic, three years ago, yours truly Abdoulaye Wade allowed you to come to Dakar to tell us that we, Africans, are under-humans. It's your vision. Kindly suffer that we reiterate our own. Côte d'Ivoire is a state of Law, sovereign, with laws and organic acts that all partners have to respect, as we respect theirs. In our opinion, the election of the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire is not the election of a deputy head of class in a primary school in Issy-les-Moulineaux.
In your official statement quoted above, you are referring to the announcement of provisional results made by the president of the “Independent” Electoral Commission, and you launched an appeal to the concerned Ivorian leaders and officials “that the electoral process, so well started, ends quickly in a climate of calm and opens to the Ivory Coast a new era of peace and prosperity.”
By announcing the results from the headquarters of the rebellion and RHDP more than 16 hours after the statutory period prescribed by the law, and outside the forms and framework provided for this purpose, the chairman of the CEI Youssouf Bakayoko not only violated the Constitution of our country, but also the Ivorian electoral code and the rules of the institution he leads. And you do not ignore that, since the Elysee Palace was the first to scream of outrage at the expiration of the statutory period for the declaration of provisional results by the CEI, which was set for Wednesday, December 1st at midnight.
By validating this outlaw behavior and being its megaphone, you are designating yourself as the instigator and godfather of this ridiculous and grotesque attempted electoral coup, which is, needless to say, at your image: vaudeville and pitiful. If the lives and future of millions of people were not involved, we would laugh!
Yesterday, just three minutes after the underground illegal announcement, and therefore void, of “provisional results” by your very rigorous friend of the CEI, all state French media and affiliates had changed their lineup, with releases of Alassane Ouattara’s portrait, specials, breaking news, dedicated graphic identity, and absolutely no mention of any security apprehension or the intervention of the President of the Constitutional Council, made well before that of your friend Youssouf Bakayoko. Today, as the Constitutional Council announced the victory of Laurent Gbagbo since 3:30 p.m., we are still awaiting the release of his portrait and praising special news who would be dedicated to him. Instead of that, we are served with hateful and vindictive words (those of journalist Vincent Hugueux from the French weekly L’Express on France 24 are just incredible) and since a few minutes,you seem to remember that there are 16,000 French in Côte d’Ivoire.
Given the continued refusal of France to begin a relationship of equal partnership with Côte d'Ivoire and other African countries, coupled with your inability to find solutions to the socio-economic stagnation in which you have plunged France since your election in May 2007, as well as your propensity to use the same methods as your predecessor Jacques Chirac to own Côte d'Ivoire, the next steps are well known. Perhaps you will kindly give us the timeline that suits you for the 2010 edition of your offences? In the meantime, here's the non-exhaustive list that we know by heart: incitation to insurrections, organized attacks of French and foreign economic interests in Côte d'Ivoire, in order to put the blame on President Gbagbo, anxiogenic media campaigns on “Gbagbo’s Young Patriots: hunters of White people”, resurrection of the death squads, manipulation of international opinion through false and biased information, disappearance of secret agents, secret funding of terrorists and rebellion, fanciful resolutions at the UN the Security Council, war, peace agreements made under pressure...
Your way, Mr. Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, to consider us as brain amputees is nerve-stiffening. It reflects the contempt you feel towards us, but still! Is it your lack of intelligence, creativity, or simply your shady and messy character that prevents you from being a little more subtle and discreet in the development and implementation of your strategies to destabilize and have a grip on Côte d'Ivoire? This is not for lack of trying, but you did not even manage to impose your son at the head of a public institution for the development of the Paris area and you think you can decide on who will be the President of Côte d'Ivoire? I assure you, Mr. Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, this is really annoying.
Because of the military, diplomatic, media, political and economic war your country has led against us for the past 8 years, we have been forced to live in fear and poverty and to make indigestible and demeaning concessions. To the prosperity and well-being succeeded death, rape, plunder, and forfeiture. We will not take that route again. I think it would be nice if you are getting this right, Mr. President of the French Republic. Anyone who tries to hinder our dignity, our freedom and our development, we will fight that person back with no concessions.
It is not too late to turn around. Your wish has been granted. The electoral process was completed in a peaceful atmosphere. On November 28th, 2010, the Ivorian people voted. The Constitutional Council, the only jurisdiction authorized to proclaim the final results of presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire, has declared Laurent Gbagbo as the winner of the elections with 51.45% of the votes. He has been chosen by the Ivoirians to lead their country during the next five years and open a “new era of peace and prosperity.” You can congratulate us! And remind the candidate Alassane Ouattara that he has made a commitment to respect the outcome of the Constitutional Council. Finally, Mr Sarkozy de Nagy-Bosca, it would be really nice if you could tell your friends from the international community that neither them, nor you are entitled to speak or decide on the behalf of Côte d'Ivoire, and that Laurent Gbagbo was mandated by us to manage our country in the best interest of Ivoirians, and not that of France, UN, IMF and other Western powers.
Mahalia Nteby, December 3, 2010