SUMMARY
After the military coup of December 1999, former president Henri Konan Bedié was ousted from power and replaced by General Gueï. With the rise to power of Gueï, the government was reorganized and several opposition parties were given an active role in the political arena. Corruption and criminality which had ensnared the country for several years declined and the new head of state proceeded to the rewriting of the constitution. Furthermore, the general promised to organize new presidential elections.
By the time of the presidential elections in October 2000 the new constitution had been approved by a constitutional referendum. Highly criticized, the changes included new requirements for anyone who wished to run for public office. Eligibility required that both parents had been born within the country. As a result, the Supreme Court invalidated 70% of the presidential candidates. Alassane Ouattara, representing the political party RDR (Rassemblement des Républicains de Côte d’Ivoire), was hence disqualified due to allegations concerning him not being a native Ivorian.
With early election results showing that the presidency would fall to opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo and his political party the FPI (Front Populaire Ivoirien), General Gueï clenched to power by dissolving the Electoral Commission and proclaiming himself the new president. However, believed to be the rightful victor of the presidential elections, Laurent Gbagbo called for massive protests. After severe clashes between protesters and Security Forces, Gueï was forced to leave the country and the mantle of the presidency was instead taken over by Laurent Gbagbo.
In the immediate aftermath, supporters of the RDR (Rassemblement des Républicains de Côte d’Ivoire) organized demonstrations and demanded new elections since their presidential candidate, Alassane Ouattara, had been falsely disqualified. Determined to remain in power, Laurent Gbagbo refused. Consequently, supporters of the two political rivals clashed in the streets of Abidjan. Due to religious and ethnic differences between Gbagbo and Ouattara, Gbagbo is a Christian Bété and Ouattara a Muslim Dioula, respective supporters attacked churches and mosques while committing severe human rights abuses.
The non-state conflict between Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo and Supporters of Alassane Ouattara is first included in UCDP data in 2000. In October of that year, the refusal of Laurent Gbagbo to organize new elections resulted in massive demonstrations in which supporters of the two political rivals clashed. The violent confrontations resulted in at least 25 battle-related deaths.
