Ivory Coast’s Election May Inflame Political Tensions
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Ivory Coast’s run-off presidential election on Nov. 28 threatens to inflame political tensions in the divided nation, pitting a candidate backed by the rebel-held north against the incumbent who draws support from the south.
President Laurent Gbagbo, who has ruled the world’s largest cocoa grower for a decade, received 38 percent of the first-round vote on Oct. 31, winning 10 of 13 regions in the south. Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister, got 32 percent of the ballot and dominated in five of six northern regions. A third candidate, Henri Konan Bedie, got 25 percent of the vote.