This was a Dem-style “ election victory.” Gbagbo’s Muslim opponent was actually ineligible to run because he was not a native Ivoirean (he’s from the neighboring Muslim state of Burkina Faso), but he ran anyway with the support, of course, of the Muslims in the north, many of them from Burkina Faso themselves. However, for two years in a row before that, elections had been cancelled - with the SUPPORT of the UN and various African organizations - because they felt that the country was too unstable to guarantee the process, since the Muslims from the north were busy attacking Christian villages in the north and were working their way south.
When they held the election, Gbagbo actually won, and the Muslims immediately claimed fraud, even though it was the Muslims who had been trying to intimidate Christians to keep them away from the polls in the north and anywhere they were dominant, and there had been major Muslim attacks on Christian villages where Gbagbo was expected to win, with mass rape being a favorite feature of the Muslim “warriors.” This time, with the support of the UN and the French, the Muslims were awarded the election after a supposed recount.
So it is dubious that “the people” elected Ouattara, unless you mean a Dem style election, which is where they keep adjusting the totals until their candidate wins. But even the Dems don’t usually go in for mass rape and slaughter, yet, at any rate.
This sounds a little rough for the US (so far), but I wonder how much union and Obamacorps thuggery we are going to see in the 2012 campaign and election?
Thanks for that enlightening reply.