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Côte D'ivoire Côte d’Ivoire Jesper Bjarnesen Côte d’Ivoire continued its overall trend from recent years of impressive economic growth and relative political stability. Productivity in all major industrial sectors continued to rise; recent legislative elections and political reforms were consoli- dated; and additional initiatives to restructure and streamline the economy were taken. Despite these overall indications of an encouraging post-conflict recovery, 2017 began in tumultuous fashion, as military mutinies threatened to evolve into more widespread strikes and protests. These events unfolded while the country’s first ever vice president was appointed, and a new government was announced. Although the protests of dissatisfied solders continued to cause concern through most of the year, the government was relatively successful in negotiations with the mutineers and retained a constructive dialogue with the disgruntled parties. In combination with declining cocoa prices, the military mutinies added pressure on the Ivorian authorities to implement much-needed security sector reform, in their efforts to lead the country towards the stated goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2020. At the same time, the election of Côte d’Ivoire to the UNSC was seen as a further confirmation of the country’s international standing as having © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���8 | doi:��.��63/9789004367630_008 Côte D’ivoire 7� consolidated its post-conflict stabilisation internally, and directing its ambitions outwards, towards multi-national diplomatic as well as military collaboration. Domestic Politics Following the legislative elections held on 18 December 2016, the political year began with a series of new appointments to key government positions. On 10 January, President Alassane Ouattara named outgoing Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan as the country’s first vice president. Duncan had served as minis- ter of finance when Alassane Ouattara was prime minister in the early 1990s, and had been appointed prime minister in 1993 when Ouattara resigned after losing a power struggle to Henri Konan Bedié following the death of the country’s first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Duncan had joined Ouattara’s government as minister of foreign affairs in 2011, and been appointed prime minister in November 2012. All major political actors welcomed his appointment as vice president, in part because of his long and loyal service to the country and also because he was gener- ally perceived not to be interested in running for president in the potentially highly competitive elections in 2020. The new post of vice president was set up under con- stitutional changes voted by referendum and approved in November 2016, along with the establishment of a second legislative chamber, the first ever Ivorian Senate, to which one-third of its 99 members are appointed directly by the president. The task of replacing Duncan as prime minister was bestowed upon the former secretary-general to the president’s office, and long-standing councillor to Alassane Outtara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Prime Minister Coulibaly announced his new government on 17 January, with only minor changes to the previous composi- tion. Coulibaly was also assigned responsibility for the ministerial portfolio of the national budget on 19 July. Guillaume Soro, the former leader of the ‘Forces Nouvelles’ (FN) rebel movement, who had served as prime minister for five years until 2012, was re-elected speaker of parliament on 9 January. In the days preceding these high-level political appointments, a series of army mutinies raised fears of a military coup or a return to armed conflict. On 6 January, armed soldiers broke into an armoury in the central town of Bouaké and took to the streets, shooting into the air, taking control of local police stations and setting up roadblocks, effectively shutting down most of the main entry points into the city centre. Within a day, mutinies had spread to Abidjan, Korhogo and several smaller towns across the country. In addition to concerns about a potential destabilisation of the country, there was also speculation that the mutinies might be politically motivated, as the appointment of the new vice president and prime minister had yet to be announced. These initial fears were laid to rest when the demands of the soldiers were made public and primarily concerned payment of salaries and other .
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