Mr. Emmanuel Bombande – Executive Director of the West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) has told Joy FM that the Ivoirian presidential elections crisis represents one of a déjà vu situation, very much anticipated. He said that from the onset of the peace building process in that country it was expected that there was going to be difficulties with the elections, however what comes as a surprise to many is that an incumbent president is at the centre of the conflict and has denied his country a good opportunity to move into the league of West Africa’s democratic countries. Cote d’Ivoire at the weekend ‘swore in’ two presidents, the incumbent and opposition leader Alassane Outtara, thought to have won a disputed presidential run-off. According to Bambande, despite what might be described as his “pedigree”, all must come to terms with the reality that Mr. Laurent Koudou Ggabgbo is caught-up, together with his very close allies, within an incapacity to see beyond a partisan interest that is personal, as against the total national interest of la Côte d’Ivoire – in terms of the country’s relationship with its peers. Speaking on options available now to the sub-regional mediators, Mr. Bombande said the option of forceful eviction of Mr. Laurent Gbagbo was not a laudable one as that would lead to more destruction and loss of lives. He proposed that the international community mounts more diplomatic pressure on Gbagbo through sustaining the positions already taken by key actors in global politics such as the USA, France, United Nations and the World Bank, and that by deploying such measures, it would be impossible for Mr. Gbagbo to govern. Mr. Bombande said that although the situation has not deteriorated into a full blown clash between the rival parties, it may merely be deceptive as the feuding parties may only be preparing for an onslaught. He said the fact that the UN, ECOWAS and AU are intervening in the matter may have calmed tensions to an extent, and that actors in the affair will be watching keenly to see how the mediation by former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki works out. He said Thabo Mbeki’s persistent reference to opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara as “President Ouattara” in press engagements is indicative of the charge he bears in the AU mandate to mediate and that those could be looked upon as an implicit articulation of the mission’s opinion to the public. According to Bombande, although some sections of the political elite may question the negotiation capability of Mbeki after he settled for a unity government in Zimbabwe, those views may be founded on false premises as the Zimbabwe precedent was very different from the Ivorian case. According to Mr. Bombande, President Mbeki who mediated in the Zimbabwe situation where there was no clear-cut way on what to do, and in which the prime objective was to, as much as possible prevent bloodshed, is very different from the Thabo Mbeki of today who is negotiating a situation which is coming after successful, transparent elections. Examining a situation in which Gbagbo refuses to give-up power, he said that the diplomatic solution is not written on a clean sheet but based on principle which is informed from the ECOWAS level by the protocols of democracy on good governance – which is a compliment of the 1999 Protocols on Peace. He explained that under that protocol, it is agreed by member states of ECOWAS that where a situation becomes a threat not only internally to that country but also to the countries of the sub region, then the principle of Supra nationality can be enforced – which empowers the ECOWAS Heads of States to make decisions which overrule the national decisions of the country in question. He cited a precedent in Liberia where the then President Charles Taylor was asked to step down from power for a peace process to be negotiated for Liberia.