Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader and Ouattara’s chosen Prime Minister, told FRANCE 24 he was skeptical of international sanctions and maintained that “force was the only solution”. Soro’s comments came hours after France joined a list of countries urging their citizens to leave the West African nation as violence following the disputed Nov. 28 presidential run-off has mounted.
Both Gbagbo and Ouattara claim they won the poll and have sworn in respective cabinets. While the international community has recognised Ouattara as the rightful winner and called on Gbagbo to cede power, the incumbent Ivorian president has refused to give up the presidency. In a phone interview with FRANCE 24 Wednesday from the main Ivorian city of Abidjan, Soro once again called for Gbagbo to step down. “Laurent Gbagbo is no longer the president. He was defeated,” said Soro. “We continue to call on him to cede power. For the moment, I have asked the UN Security Council, the European Union, the African Union and (West African regional grouping) ECOWAS to contemplate the option of using military force to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power.”
Soro served as Prime Minister under Gbagbo from 2007 until he resigned from the post following the disputed Nov. 28 presidential run-off, after which he was promptly sworn in as Ouattara’s Prime Minister. A former leader of the New Forces rebel group, Soro took up the Prime Ministerial post in 2007 under the terms of a peace deal between Gbagbo’s government and the northern rebels.
