Ivorian junta opposed to OAU proposals, says minister

Ivorian military junta leader Gen. Robert Guei talks with officers at the State House in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Tuesday

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Ivory Coast's military junta Tuesday rejected proposals by African leaders to delay a presidential election in an effort to defuse political tensions.

"We are a bit surprised. Immediately after December 24, the heads of state asked us to return very soon to a normal constitutional life. We don't understand why they are now asking us to shelve this constitution in the name of so-called social peace," Communications Minister and junta spokesman Henri Cesar Sama told Radio France International.

"For us, (the proposals) are in conflict with all the work that the CNSP (junta) has done. ... We have a constitution, we must apply it," he said.

A delegation of seven heads of state held talks in Abidjan Monday with army ruler Gen. Robert Guei and the country's main political parties.

The delegation, led by Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who is the current chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), recommended that a presidential vote due on October 22 be delayed by four months and a parliamentary vote be held first.

The elections are meant to restore democratic rule after a military coup in December 1999.

Guei is one of the 19 declared candidates for the presidency along with former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara.

Ouattara's candidacy has been at the heart of the Ivorian crisis since before the coup.

His opponents, including ousted president Henri Konan Bedie and Guei, say he is not Ivorian and is thus ineligible to stand for president under tight nationality conditions included in a new constitution approved by referendum in July.

Ouattara says he meets all the criteria laid out in the constitution.

The Supreme Court, headed by one of Guei's former advisers, has the final say and, under the current timetable, must rule by October 7.

"What we are asking the (OAU) heads of state is to send a strong message to all the candidates asking them to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court," Sama said.

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