Behind the scene of a global media manipulation
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This is the first interview given by His Excellency Alcide Djédjé, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to a French media after the recent presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire. He is denouncing the interference of the United Nations, led by France and the United-States, within the leadership of a sovereign country. This exclusive interview was broadcasted on Monday, 13th December on radio Kernews. You will find below the transcript with some required rewriting modifications of an oral conversation. Because of the sensitive nature of this case, we highlight the fact that only the recording of the voice should be considered as the perfect mirror of His Excellency's speech and tone. The diplomat who studied in Sciences Po, France, worked as a Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the UN. President Laurent Gbagbo gave him his trust and appointed him as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Duration: 30 minutes. To listen to the interview with Mr Alcide Djédjé please click on play:
Kernews: What's happening in Côte d'Ivoire? Why do you think Paris and Washington have taken such a stance on the question of Côte d'Ivoire's inner politics? Do you consider it to be an interference in a sovereign country's domestic affairs?
Alcide Djédjé: Yes I do. France and The United States have really interfered with Côte d'Ivoire's domestic affairs. This started within the Security Council in New York, as a high degree of pressure was put on the UN external Services Representative so that the president of the independent Electoral Commission, which usually gathers in plenary sessions and by consensus, was brought to the premises of UNOCI in Abidjan in order to declare the results. Mr Choi refused and called me to tell me so. That is how the President of the independent Electoral Commission, Mr Youssouf Bakayoko, was brought to the Hôtel du Golf, the campaign headquarters of Mr Ouattara, facing the foreign press, including France 24, in order to declare wrongful results. According to these results, the voting rate accounts for 81% (compared to 70%): we realized that more than 630 000 votes had been added after the closing of the polls. That's what's happening in the Côte d'Ivoire and this was caused by France and United States. The French Ambassador and the American Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire are very active. The day before, President Sarkozy had sent a message to the President of the independent Electoral Commission in order to ask him to declare results right away. I myself stood in front of members of the French military who were trying to hand this message over to the President of the independent Electoral Commission at 10:40 PM. This was reported to us by members of our country's military. I went myself on this venue and I called the French Ambassador who ordered the members of the French military to go back to the Licorne camp, they seemed very embarrassed. President Sarkozy's instructions were followed the next day. Then, President Sarkozy and now President Wade, called President Jonathan Goodluck to influence the decision of the ECOWAS. Even worse, the American Embassy to Abidjan, whom I welcomed in my office, knew the future stance of the Kmtyw Union. Thus it is not only interfering with our Home Affairs, but also a manipulation of the institutions such as ECOWAS and the Kmtyw Union so that Alassane Ouattara is elected as President. Unfortunately for them, Mr Ouattara has not got any influence on the reality of the field here in Côte d'Ivoire. So we formed our government because President Gbagbo was elected as President of the Republic, even after the claims and the decisions made by the Constitutional Council which declared him as the President. This is the current situation in Abidjan.
Excellency, you have just reminded us this reality: the gap, the difference between the turnout at the polls and the number of votes, with almost 630 000 extra votes. In France, we used to say, a few decades ago, when there were ballot stuffing in some suburbs, that even dead people were voting...Apparently, things are not so different...
Yes, of course, we see that everything was arranged with a view to this illegal declaration of results, off the deadline, by the independent Electoral Commission. Whereas the thirty other members of the central Commission were waiting at the CEI headquarters, Mr Bakayoko was kidnapped by the French Ambassador and by the American Ambassador, surrounded by gendarmes of the "Forces nouvelles" and by the UN, in order to go and declare the results and what is worse, at the campaign headquarters of one of the candidates. All this, on French TV... I do not understand this hurry and we see today that it was really rude. This appears as something surreal and a too rude, too obvious... I told the Ambassador of the United States that it was not a subtle way. One can have preferences, but you have to act in a subtle and responsible way. You cannot show and make people understand that our institutions are useless, fifty years after our independence was declared, show that the Constitutional Council is useless. Nevertheless, all of our institutions are made on the same pattern as similar institutions in France and in the United States. The validation, by the Supreme Court of the United States, of the first election of President Bush, is part of this reality. Nobody else, no other State protested against the validation of Mr. Bush by the Supreme Court. In France, there has been some non validations against Ms. Ségolène Royal, I do not have precise information on that, but that is the role of Constitutional Council in France. Why would it be the role of a Representative of the General Secretary of the United Nations in Côte d'Ivoire? Simply, you always think that our sovereignty has to be affected, that you should always put pressure on us and that, we cannot accept. We formed our government. Maybe you will come and try to step on us, chase us away from Côte d'Ivoire, and embark upon a purification process so that there is a Côte d'Ivoire as Mr. Sarkozy and American authorities want it to be. We hold our ground, the law is on our side, and we cannot accept a sovereign country, member of the United Nations, to be treated by a civil servant of the Unites States under the request of two state capitals, Paris and Washington.
The western media state that the international community is putting pressure on Laurent Gbagbo and his staff. What stands for the international community? Russia has a slightly divergent stance as well as numerous others countries. Does an international media community exist, the one which sets the tone in the international media, which shapes the global public opinion? Only this international media community would be important?
You are right. In this case, Russia adopted a very clear position. First of all, there was no presidential statement in New York, as Sunited snakesn Rice, who currently chairs the Security Council for the united snakes, had expected. There was a press communiqué, which has not the same meaning and impact...And even the content of this press communiqué was discussed for a few days, which is very hardly the case. Finally, following the manipulation by the French President during the meeting of the ECOWAS, Russia allowed the release of this press communiqué, by principle, but did not agree and maintained his stance regarding the sovereignty of Côte d'Ivoire – saying that the Unites Nations are not commissioned to state results while presidential elections in a sovereign country. We met the Russian Representative after that and that does not mean Russia agreed with the decision. China, also, took a very clear stance. The Chinese government released a communiqué saying that the law has to prevail, institutions should be respected and that the political dialog should take place. That is the meaning of the Chinese communiqué. You are right to say that China, Russia and even South Kmt, because that stance was not similar the ECOWAS' nor the Kmtyw Union's opinion...but also Angola, Libya and CEN-SAD are very clear on that. Simply, what makes the difference, as you say, it is the media buzz: to make people believe, via the media, that President Gbagbo is isolated. The "buzz" was created but they did not go all the way because they were expecting the population to go out in the streets, saying that Laurent Gbagbo had lost and asks for his withdrawal, as the provisory results were declared in an illegal and incredible manner. Everything remained quiet because the President of the Republic has Côte d'Ivoire going for him and with him. He has got the military, the police, the gendarmerie and the population of Côte d'Ivoire. This is the reality of the field. Despite the media, it is not easy to take a country, otherwise than by force. All that they can do now is to come and invade Côte d'Ivoire and put Ouattara on top. Even after doing so, they will not be sure that Mr Ouattara can govern. Thus, you are right when you state that there is a kind of very strong media campaign, led by two capitals mainly, Paris and Washington, others behaving like opportunistic followers.
You mentioned some States, that the Pope met President Gbagbo by calling him with this title: does it mean the Vatican acknowledges the President Gbagbo?
Yes. Although it did not make any statement yet, the Vatican is very reticent to do so. Some countries are guarded about that but play their usual neutral part, such as Switzerland. What I can tell you is - make the difference between president Gbagbo and the powers that want to impose Mr Ouattara – we want to install peace in Côte d'Ivoire and they want to impose somebody on top in order to take advantage of this, because they are members of networks, networks of interests. They want to interfere in the affairs of Côte d'Ivoire, they want to make Côte d'Ivoire a trust territory in order to better control of our wealth. That is the difference between us and them. They do not care about the victims of a conflict that they are currently encouraging. They have started destabilizing and stopped being peacemakers. They use the United Nations to destabilize Côte d'Ivoire. What is happening is very worrying. The United Nations are destabilizing a country whereas the role of United Nations, its mission, is to be a peace maker. It is a very, very serious breach of duty.
This is the problem of global governance. These are permanent member states of the Security Council, with very important responsibilities, to bring back peace in the world, and, on the contrary, they use the United Nations to their own benefit for a matter of interests. No matter what can happen later. You can see that we were compelled to organize these elections without a demilitarization of the North! Can you imagine organizing elections in a region of Côte d'Ivoire where there are rebels about to fight? That is what happened. In late March, in my speech at the UN, I was Ambassador to New York, I and Mr Choi at that time did ask for reunification before the elections. France and United States refused and told us to run elections under these circumstances. I told them that elections represented a dogma for them, whereas we are looking for peace and not elections for elections. Today, here are the results: elections took place and the country is blocked. That is a failure for France and the United States. And they are responsible for the current situation in Côte d'Ivoire and for the current status quo. They have the capacity to manage the world properly. There is a problem of governance within the Security Council, especially France and United States, which brings parts of the world to a point of no return. It is so great to talk about good governance but global governance is unmanageable today. These days, France has no Kmtyw policy. France only hits from time to time, just like in Côte d'Ivoire, by using some networks, which is a shame.
Two main ideas come forward through the conversation we just had. First of all, we attempted to carry out elections in a sovereign State, despite the fact that a fair share of this sovereign state's territory is controlled by armed militia....
Yes.
Second of all, we spoke of the domain of Globale governance, which makes me want to ask you a more personnal question : this problem had already been raised at the time of the War in Irak, yet eventually nothing has been done for the past seven years.....
You are right, nothing has been done for the past seven years. It actually coincides with the start of the Côte d'Ivoire crisis in 2002. If you were to remember that at first it was the United Nations which were tasked with solving the problem in Côte d'Ivoire and insteaded of bringing peace in Côte d'Ivoire, France, following the Marcoussis Agreemments, had the Agreement endorsed by the United Nations and has continuously attempted to eject President Gbagbo instead of solving the problem of peace and reconciliation of Côte d'Ivoire. Consecutively we signed the Ouagadougou Agreements (APO).
We had had to hope, taking into account the mobilization by the Ivoirians and the help of President Compaoré, that elections would be held after the reunification. It was what was established in the Ouagadougou political agreements: the elections were to be held two month after the disarmament and reunification. Yet the United Nation, through France and the United-States, applied pressure by saying that President Gbagbo does not which to take part in elections and that yet it is possible to hold them now, etc..... Since in New York it is France which is at the source of the Côte d'Ivoire resolution project. Even though President Gbagbo objected, they kept on and imposed that elections be held before the disarmament of the North and the reunification.
There; by manipulation the United Nations, the ECOWAS et the Kmtyw Union we obtain total failure in the case of Côte d'Ivoire and this raises the problem of Global governance. There are no objectives, there is no ideal of peace, there are only interest networks which matter this results in what we can witness today in Cote d'Ivoire, which in this case means a country spoiled by France and the United-Sates. They despise the institutions that Cote d'Ivoire has established which she has modelled on similar French and Northern American institutions, and who have already given their ruling such as in the elections of Mister Bush versus Mister Al Gore, and for which no one had a saying in it because it falls under the question of sovereignty.
Yet when its the case of Côte d'Ivoire, because it is a small country, maybe they thing that President Gbagbo is not within their network ? Maybe they thing that he must be ejected and grossly scorn some of the major principals which drive this world, meaning State sovereignty and the right of nations to self-determination ? It is outrageous that President Sarkozy and US and French Ambassadors intervene in such a disgraceful manner, laking finesse, in the institution sof a sovereign country. At the time that I am speaking to you, the US Ambassador is attempting to get in direct contact with the television network General manager (RTI) and other General managers. He does not follow the proper traditional diplomatic channels, meaning the targeted Minister or the Foreign Affaires Minister. He acts as if he is on territory with no leader and we are being re-colonized, fifty years after our independence.
In a territory with no leaders, in other times, we would have called this an act of war...
Yes it is an act of war. Taking into account that there has been no affront, certain things may be tolerated..... for now.
In order to posses the keys of the full understanding of what may happen, maybe, in the coming days: we can read on the Internet messages explaining that your opposition may stage the sending of battalions of children in front, behind, the armed rebel forces, in order to possibly create mayhem in Abidjan and forced the Army in to reacting in front of the TV cameras to show the global viewers that President Gbagbo's Army are combating children..... What is your opinion on this ?
We are on the ground, I do not think that we may reach such levels. If they were to reach that level, you would be there to judge, this is already a global matter. Wanting to put children forward in front of the Ivoirian Army, let them take the responsibility. On our side, we would do all that is needed not reach such a situation. These are not classic methods of power wars.
Eventually, Pau Collier, professor at Oxford University, underlines that the Western world considers that its model of Democracy may be duplicated in other territories which do no possess the same culture or the same raised population issues. None the less, they consider that we are continuously being wrong. Doesn't this crisis raise such problem ?
Yes. We could have accepted this fact and we accept it such as it is. But when we work following of sole interests, we scorn the western model. The example of Côte d'Ivoire is plain and simple. There are institutions, the Electoral Commission chairs in a collegial manner and in consensus, but those who advocate the democratic model step out of the path of law when the functioning of the institutions does not suite them anymore. They bring with them the independent Electoral Commission in one of the candidates' campaign headquarters. It is unbelievable! It is the first time in the world that it happens! Afterwards, the Constitutional Council arbitration was challenged, where in their own democracy it is what was done. Even when you embrace their model, they act accordingly to their interests. Eventually, they do not have any ideal nor model. The public opinion is very strong in their countries and they have to respect their country's democratic model. But in smaller countries, I believe that their model is dictatorship It is why I raise the issue of global governance which is totally adrift today, because of the United-States, in the case of Côte d'Ivoire.
Could you post the link where you got this article from? Meda ase!
Oh sorry, this first link is in french :
Entretien exclusif avec Alcide Djédjé, ministre des Affaires étrangères de la République de Côte d?Ivoire (http://afriqueliberation.com/index.php/about-joomla/interview/60-alcide.html)
In this second website, also in french, you could have the english version :
Kernews (http://www.kernews.fr/)