(3 minutes read)
· Alassane Ouattara, Ivory Coast President met with the main opposition rival and former president Henri Konan Bedie in Abidjan and assured him to pursue talks aimed at calming a standoff over the October 31 election, which has led to clashes leading to loss of lives of scores of people
· Two leaders agreed to continue with the dialogue to find a way out for resolving the stalemate, which had disrupted the ordinary life in the West African country
As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com yesterday, Alassane Ouattara, Ivory Coast President met with the main opposition rival and former president Henri Konan Bedie in Abidjan and assured him to pursue talks aimed at calming a standoff over the October 31 election, which has led to clashes leading to loss of lives of scores of people. The controversy erupted on account of the third term sought by the incumbent president, which the opposition parties allege violate a two-term constitutional limit.
It was the first meeting to break the impasse and is construed to be an effort to restore trust. According to reports, the two leaders agreed to continue with the dialogue to find a way out for resolving the stalemate, which had disrupted ordinary life in the West African country.
Both the leaders said that the meeting was fruitful but did not reveal the details of the talks nor about any concession that they had talked about. Bedie also did not reveal much about the outcome of the talk but said that the discussions would continue in order to restore normalcy in the country.
President Ouattara received more than 94 percent of the vote in the election, which was boycotted by the main opposition. The decision of Quattraa to seek a third term of office led to clashes between his supporters and those who were opposing him. According to various sources, more than 8,000 people have fled the country to seek refuge in neighboring states fearing that there would be a repeat of the aftermath of the 2010 election, which killed more than 3,000 people.
