Ivory Coast - Just Say No to the Incumbent and Loser of the Election

From all the information coming in, the opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara and his party clearly won the recent presidential elections in Cote D'Ivoire. The incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo lost, so should concede, and hand over power. Thabo Mbeki , the African Union (AU) mediator and former South African President should tell Gbagbo that, NO, he can not stay in power. No, he should not hope for a Kenya style power sharing agreement, for that would set an awful precedent on the continent. No, Gbagbo should not be pandered to, and allowed to hang on, as then all incumbents all over the continent upon losing elections will wait for an AU mediator.


It looks like things are on the right track. The AU has suspended Ivory Coast from the body. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Ivory Coast. The UN security council also thrown its support to Ouattara. President Obama has condemned Gbagbo. Ivory Coast shares a common currency, the CFA Franc, with several other African countries with a common issuing Central bank, the BCEAO, which has been asked to only honor orders from the Outtara group. There should be no excuses. Gbagbo must concede and leave. Let us see what happens next.