Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo on Thursday hailed a new UN plan to keep him in office for another year and help an unelected prime minister try to steer the divided country to lasting peace.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a new peace plan giving Ivorian Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny sweeping powers to lead a one-year transition to long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections.
"I welcome and thank all the member states of the Security Council ... who rejected any possibility to subordinate the constitution of a country to a decision of an international organisation," Gbagbo said in a 10-minute address to the nation that was broadcast on state television.
Following disagreements within the Security Council, the UN resolution had to be watered down from an original version which specifically stated that Banny would have powers to appoint military and civilian officials, a clause which, it was felt, directly violated the constitution.
"Our constitution will therefore remain in force," Gbagbo said.
Without giving any details, Gbagbo said that any clauses of the resolution "which constitute a violation of the constitution will not be applied" and promised to draw up in the coming days "a new framework to end the crisis". UN resolution 1721, adopted late on Wednesday, details a new peace plan aimed at "fully implementing the peace process" and organising free, fair and transparent elections by October 31, 2007.
The cocoa-rich African country has been split between a rebel-held north and a government-ruled south since a military revolt in 2002.
The UN resolution, the "final" chance for Ivorians to end years of political turmoil, stated that the premier "must have all the necessary powers" and "full and unfettered authority", underscoring that "no legal provisions should be invoked" to obstruct the peace process.
President Gbagbo, regarded by some countries as an obstacle to the peace process, has referred in past months to the constitution to subvert some of Banny's decisions.
The 61-year-old president, whose militant supporters have a reputation for taking to the streets at any given opportunity, asked Ivorians "to remain calm and ... abstain from any demonstration ... so that nothing disturbs" the implementation of the peace process.
He said he would clearly instruct the police to help ensure this.
The UN resolution empowers Banny to restructure the armed forces in line with a peace deal signed in France in January 2003.
It also calls for "the immediate resumption" of a crucial exercise to disarm and dismantle the much-resented pro-government militias. Only a handful of tens of thousands of armed groups turned in their arms this year under the disarmament exercise, a key precursor to credible polling.
The New Forces rebels, who hold half of the world's top cocoa producer, and the opposition have always said they wanted President Gbagbo to step down after the expiration of his mandate on October 31. The rebels said they would react to the UN plan "during the week".
In Paris, French co-operation minister Brigitte Girardin said the resolution was "a good text" which "learned lessons from the failure of the previous transition".
The Security Council resolution underlines that the UN is "fully prepared to impose" sanctions against individuals blocking the peace process and urges Banny to "establish and implement without delay a code of conduct for the media".