Publication

Following the November 28, 2010, presidential runoff election, the UN, charged with validating the electoral process in Côte d'Ivoire, along with the Independent Electoral Commission, proclaimed Alassane Ouattara the winner, with 54.1 percent of the vote, over Laurent Gbagbo, the sitting president, who had received 45.9 percent of the vote. Both Ouattara and Gbagbo were sworn in as president by their supporters. While the central conundrum is how to convince Gbagbo to leave office, larger questions loom about the role of elections, the state of democratization, and the strength of institutions in Africa.