AFTER the first round of the October 31, 2010 election, Laurent Gbagbo secured 1,756,504 popular votes or 38.4 per cent of total votes while Alassane Ouattara got 1,481,091 of popular votes or 32.07per cent.

However at the second round of voting Alassane Ouattara benefited immensely from his entente with Bernard Bedie and the command of the New Forces.

On the 2nd round of elections which held on 28th November 2010, the first round results were reversed in faovur of Ouattara, scoring 54.1per cent to Laurent Gbagbo’s 45.9 per cent but on 30th Nov. 2010 announcement of results by the Independent Electoral Commission of Cote D’Ivoire (CEI) was disrupted by Laurent Gbagbo’s thugs who took the result sheets from Bamba Yacouba in the glare of the world’s live media in the presence of Laurent Gbagbo’s Army and security agents.

The CEI President Youssouf Bakayoko publicly announced the official provisional result showing that Alassane Ouattara had won the election. Bakayoko confirmed that voting turn out was 81.09 percent and confirmed Alassane Ouattara’s, victory by 54.1percent to Laurent Gbagbo’s 45.9 percent. This announcement by Ouattara under a heavily guarded UNPeace Keeping Force, the same hotel where the new President was sworn – in and which he had used as his base in Abidjan.

In order to legitimise Laurent Gbagbo, Paul Yao N’Dre, President of the constitutional council and a long time personal friend and ally of Gbagbo announced  on radio on December  3rd 2010 that over 1000 votes in the North belonging to Alassane Ouattara had been voided due to fraud. This he said has tilted the scale in favour of his friend and incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo.

At the National Stadium in Abidjan Laurent Gbagbo was sworn-in for another five years on the strength of the constitutional councils deliberate concocted figures read on the airwaves by its President. Shortly after Gbagbo’s swearing in ceremony, President Alassane Ouattara was also sworn-in in a nearby hotel under the heavily guarded auspices of  a 10,000 United Nations Peace Keeping Force.

Reactions from the International Community was spontaneous. The African Union immediately suspended Cote D’Ivoire until Alaasone Ouattara was sworn-in as President.

The European Union threatened to place travel ban and freeze assets of members of Gbagbo’s illegal government. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) took the same stance as the African Union. The United States of America advised Gbagbo to step down or face the consequences.

The UN threat was the most direct and potent but veiled as it has vowed to defend Alassane Ouattara at all cost. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has warned of severe consequences if United Nation Peace Keeping Troops were attacked.

But inspite of all these threats and advice, President Laurent Gbagbo has defied the whole world.

Even when Mr. Thabo Mbeki (former South African President) was sent by the AU to mediate in the crisis, Gbagbo refused to yield to reason and fair play. During his swearing-in ceremony on December 4, 2010, Laurent Gbagbo defiantly declared, “I will continue to work with all the countries of the world but I will never give up our sovereignty”. How naïve of Laurent Gbagbo to talk of “our sovereignty”. Which sovereignty is Gbagbo talking about.

Is Laurent Gbagbo referring to Domestic sovereignty? Is he talking about external sovereignty? Or is it fiscal sovereignty. Laurent Gbagbo has no claim to any form of sovereignty. It is true that theoretically a state has “absolute authority and perpetual power over its citizens and subjects unrestrained by (external) law.

Apart from the sanctity of domestic or internal sovereignty, External sovereignty guarantees the sovereignty or non interference of the domestic policies of independent states (however small or weak they may be) from the more powerful or even super power states.

External sovereignty implies that all independent states are equal no matter their geographical size, military capabilities, population and economic status.

Supremacy is an aspect of sovereignty which states that in theory, a sovereign state is not bound by any other constitutional arrangement or authority outside its own territory.

That is, an independent state is deemed to be subject to no hindrance in the formulation of both its domestic and foreign policies. It is assumed to be the sole determinant of and influence over its own policies. That is in theory.

Laurent Gbagbo cannot now use sovereignty as escapism. Has the Ivorian President forgotten the old adage that, “he who pays the piper dictates the tune”.

The UN has emphatically posited that it will protect President Alassane Ouattara “at all costs”. Laurent Gbagbo at a meeting with the UN Security Council on June 9, 2008 appealed to the UN to play a larger role in financing the election.

The AU, ECOWAS, United Nation, France, USA, Japan and Britain should increase pressure on Laurent Gbagbo to step down for the rightful winner of the November 28, 2010 presidential run – off election.

Mr. Ben NANAGHAN, a public affairs commentator , writes from Lagos.