“A volatile security situation and mounting political tensions are threatening Côte d’Ivoire’s recovery. In the last few months the country has been subjected to a series of
deadly attacks, whose targets have included: a police station, an important military base, several army positions and a power station, in addition to an outbreak of violence in the west. Although these incidents do not pose a direct threat to stability, they reveal that for some groups the war is not yet over. Other signs are also worrying: security sector reform has been slow, political dialogue is stalled,
the ruling coalition appears weak, violent discourses have returned, coup plots have been devised and uncovered and there is a clear lack of political will to promote national reconciliation. Given this state of affairs, President Alassane Ouattara and his new government should not solely be relying on economic recovery and the tightening
of security measures to consolidate peace. International attention should not be diverted away from Côte d’Ivoire’s
stabilisation, which has become all the more crucial given the decent of its neighbour, Mali, into a deep and lasting crisis.”
