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Ivory Coast Elections
"Young people are afraid
to express their political views, in fear of being taken away by gunmen."
By Moussa Cisse
As an Ivorian living in New York City, I am excited about the upcoming
presidential election in my home country of Ivory Coast.
Civil war erupted in 2000 when Gbagbo excluded the northern-based politician
Alassane Outarra from standing in the presidential election on the grounds
that his parents were not born in Ivory Coast. I think that Outarra's
exclusion from the election refelected widespread discrimination against the
Mandingo people who are mostly Muslim and from the Northern part of the
country.
I am Mandingo and I believe that a first step to ending
discrimination against my people is to allow Outarra to run for president.
Although I am concerned that gunmen will try to intimidate voters during the
election, I am happy because I believe that Outarra has a good chance of
winning.
The political climate in the Ivory Coast is scary. Young people are afraid
to express their political views, in fear of being taken away by gunmen.
One time my uncle took a picture of the president down off of the wall in
his house. The next day his neighbors reported him to the police, saying he
was a rebel. The police in the Ivory Coast do not do any research or
anything, so they came to his house immediately and took him away. Unlike a
friend of mine who was murdered for speaking out, my uncle was lucky-he was
released.
I am especially excited that the presidential election will take place this
year because the current president Gbagbo has tried to stop it time and time
again, but with pressure from the Ivorian people and even the South African
president Mbeki, the election will happen. In October, I look forward to
casting my vote from here in New York City.
-That story was produced by Youth Radio's International Desk in association with National Geographic.
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