Zuma slams Gbagbo treatment

Demanding that one of two leaders battling for power leaves the country is not the answer, says President Jacob Zuma.

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Something else needs to be done to resolve the crisis in Ivory Cost rather than demand that one of two leaders struggling for power leave that country, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

“If someone lost elections why call on them to leave the country? ...why are they pushed out of a country? It's a bit of a funny way in a democratic country,” said Zuma.

He was talking to journalists in Pretoria while elaborating on some of the discussions that took place on Thursday between himself and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is the African Union mediator for Ivory Coast.

Odinga was in Angola on Thursday on his briefing tour on the crisis before coming to South Africa.

This was happening at a time when pressure was mounting on Laurent Gbagbo to cede power, with the latest attempts at securing a peaceful resolution to the crisis by Odinga having reportedly failed.

Gbagbo has refused to step down as president and has refused to budge despite global calls for him to quit power in favour of his rival, former prime minister Alassane Ouattara.

West African bloc Ecowas has threatened the use of force if he does not leave.

The presidential elections that should have been organised in 2005 were postponed until November 2010, with the preliminary results announced by the Electoral Commission showing a loss for Gbagbo in favour of Ouattara.

Elaborating on his meeting with Odinga, Zuma said they considered the fact that the country belonged to Ecowas, which had since taken a stance on the matter.

“Although efforts were being made, the difficulty was that situation was not going away. Our view is that we need to do something else...rather than demand that one of two go away,” he said.

The coming African Union Summit should be able to deal with matter and “correct” the manner in which the situation was being dealt with, he said.

“I think we'll resolve the matter.”

Zuma also spoke of allegations against the process of the elections made on both sides of the camps. Some he described as quite “serious”.

Mentioned were some “other disturbances” leading to the final pronouncement of the election results. Zuma said these needed to be looked into.

“We need to find a way to look at these and verify on the basis of that and find way forward.”

Odinga would present a report and a proposal to the AU.

Zuma reiterated appeals to the two leaders not to resort to violence.

Zuma was speaking at a press briefing following a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni is in the country on a two-day state visit, which will be concluded in KwaZulu-Natal with a visit to the battlefield of Isandlwana - which he said was “like going to Mecca”. -

Sapa

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/zuma-slams-gbagbo-treatment-1.1015315

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