Cote D'Ivoire Set For Presidential Election Run-Off

Cote D'Ivoire Set For Presidential Election Run-Off

The result of Cote D'Ivoire Presidential election released on Thursday has given President Laurent Gbagbo a narrow lead, ahead of his main rival, Alassane Ouattara.

Announcing the result, the country's election commission said that Gbagbo won 38.3 percent of the 4.4 million votes cast in Sunday's presidential election, compared with 32 percent for Ouattara, a former prime minister and senior IMF official.

The long-delayed poll in the world's top cocoa grower is meant to reunite the once prosperous nation after a 2002-2003 civil war split it in two and left the north in the hands of rebels.

Post election situation

The result leads to a vote run-off, which will hold this month against fears by many Ivoirians that a close race could be disputed, leading to violent street protests.

However, the main city of Abidjan has remained calm and cocoa exporters who had temporarily stopped operations this week are restarting businesses from Thursday.

In the first official complaint, third-placed Henri Konan Bedie late on Wednesday called for a recount and demanded the election commission stop announcing results before the official result was given. Bedie ended up with 25.2 percent of the vote.

All candidates have come under concerted pressure by the United Nations and foreign powers to accept the results.

If the second round delivers a clear winner, it may entice investors back to what was once a rare economic success story in the region.  

REUTERS/Williams/Yinka