Well does anyone smell rat?I don't want to jump the gun,but i think the
opposition have won the election,and Guei is out to rig the results.Let us
wait and see what the outcome would be.
Monday, 23 October, 2000, 19:17 GMT
Soldiers deployed at Ivory Coast count
Soldiers have been deployed at Ivory Coast's electoral commission premises,
where votes were being counted after Sunday's presidential elections.
Journalists were also ordered out of the building, and the president of the
commission, Honore Guie, appeared on state television at 5.10 pm (1710 GMT)
to announce a break in publication of the election results.
He said they would be resumed two hours later, and rejected claims that he
had been arrested and kept under house arrest.
Initial results released early on Monday put opposition candidate, professor
Laurent Gbagb,o ahead of military ruler general Robert Guei.
But both sides have been claiming victory in the poll, which had a turnout
of less than 35%.
Results
In his television address, the commission president denied allegations of
his arrest saying: "That isn't the case. I'm here and the results will
resume around 7pm (1900GMT)."
He attributed the break in the publication of the results to a problem with
receiving them from the provinces.
"The results were no longer coming in from the interior of the country," he
said, adding that the commission had then decided to give its staff and
others a break.
According to the French news agency, AFP, an electoral commission source
reached by telephone did not want to say what was going on inside the
premises, but then broke into sobs, saying: "Stop, they will beat us."
Shortly before the commission president appeared on television, some 30
soldiers prevented several acccredited journalists from entering the
commission, which had previously been guarded by police.
Reuters news agency reported that soldiers had blocked off roads leading to
the commission in the business district of Plateau in the main city,
Abidjan.
As Mr Gbagbo's camp confidently predicted victory, General Guei's insisted
their candidate was winning.
Most opposition politicians, notably former prime minister Alassane Ouattara
- head of the Rally of Republicans (RDR) - were prevented from taking part
in the poll by a Supreme Court ruling on 6 October.
Casting his vote amid tight security in central Abidjan earlier, General
Guei described Ivory Coast as "a land of peace".
"All will happen calmly, the winner will win," said the general.
He promised to respect the results of the vote, and stand down if he was
defeated.
General Guei's 10-month rule has been characterised by political instability
and rapid economic decline
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