Opposition may get victory in Ivory Coast vote<\/p>\n
ABIDJAN (Agencies): Early returns Monday showed an opposition
\ncandidate in a close race with the junta leader in Ivory Coast's
\nelections, billed as a return to civilian government 10 months
\nafter a military coup.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo predicted victory over Gen.
\nRobert Guei, although the votes counted so far from Sunday's
\nelection came from mainly rural areas and small towns. Ballots in
\nmajor cities, including Abidjan, had yet to be tabulated.<\/p>\n
Gbagbo had 51.35 percent and Guei had 40.40 percent of the
\n126,683 ballots counted so far, a national election commission
\nofficial announced on state-run television. The remaining votes
\nwere divided between three minor candidates.<\/p>\n
Final results remained far from clear. The preliminary figures
\naccounted for a tiny fraction of the total possible vote from
\nabout 5.5 million registered voters.<\/p>\n
Turnout figures were incomplete, although voting often was
\nreported at less than 30 percent in a random check Sunday of
\npolling stations in Ivorian cities.<\/p>\n
Election officials reported a turnout of just 34 percent in
\nthe areas counted so far. Voters were nearly nonexistent in many
\nparts of Korhogo, the main city in the north and a stronghold of
\nsupport for the disqualified main opposition leader, Alassane
\nDramane Ouattara.<\/p>\n
The country's two largest political parties boycotted the
\nballot after their leaders were barred from running.<\/p>\n
Gbagbo - a former history professor and left-leaning
\npolitician - was the only candidate who posed a threat to the
\njunta leader.<\/p>\n
He said victory looked apparent.
\n\"We believe we have won,\" he told cheering supporters at his
\ncampaign headquarters early Monday morning.<\/p>\n
International observers reported minor irregularities,
\nincluding missing voting materials and confusion over electoral
\nprocedures, but attributed the problems to \"disorder, not
\nmalice,\" said an official for the European Union, which had about
\n30 observers across the country.<\/p>\n
Most candidates, including those from the country's two
\nlargest political parties, were disqualified last month by the
\nSupreme Court. Those two parties, Ouattara's Rally of the
\nRepublicans and the former ruling Democratic Party of the Ivory
\nCoast, called the boycott.<\/p>\n
The United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, the
\nEuropean Union and countries such as the United States and Canada
\nwithdrew election observers or funding, saying the exclusion of
\nmajor opponents made a truly free and fair election impossible.<\/p>\n
Guei (pronounced GAY-EE), whose own soldiers have staged two
\nmutinies since the coup and who, officials say, survived an
\nassassination attempt in September, has barely appeared in public
\nduring the campaign, apparently fearful of his security.<\/p>\n
Guei has seen his popularity plummet since the December coup,
\nwhen cheering crowds filled the streets of some neighborhoods to
\nwelcome the ouster of President Henri Konan Bedie, who was widely
\nseen as corrupt and ethnically divisive.<\/p>\n
Gbagbo (pronounced BAHG-bo), for his part, has long said he
\nbelieved most voters would oppose Guei, who for many remains a
\nsoldier - albeit one who now sports a suit and tie.<\/p>\n
Many of Gbagbo's supporters were already addressing him as
\n\"president,\" and warned they would take to the streets if he was
\nnot declared the winner.<\/p>\n
However, Ivory Coast's ruling junta was adamant Monday that
\nGen. Robert Guei would win the presidential election in the face
\nof open triumphalism from opposition candidate Laurent Gbagbo.<\/p>\n
\"We will win and win well,\" said Capt. Henri Sama, junta
\nCommunications Minister speaking to journalists at Guei's
\ncampaign headquarters.<\/p>\n
\"The only results that count are those of the National
\nElectoral Commission,\" repeated Sama.<\/p>\n
The minister said Guei's camp was \"ready to recognize the
\nverdict of the ballot box\" and called on the FPI to do the same
\nwhen the results are finally announced.<\/p>\n
Official result from 7.8 percent of the electorate gave Gbagbo
\nan overall majority with 51.35 percent and Guei 40.40 percent.<\/p>",
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