The mood is febrile. Campaigning for a long-awaited presidential election has begun. Two leading contenders-the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, and Alassane Ouattara, a former imf man-have held lavish, high-tech conventions where dancers, praise-singers and scantily-clad hostesses have been consorting with the politicians and their American-style PowerPoint presentations. Henri Konan Bedie, a former president, has presented himself as the third serious candidate. But there is a snag. The politicians are rearing to go but the election organisers are not. The official deadline for the vote, November 30th, looks sure to slip. And few Ivorians think an election will solve the country's political impasse anyway.
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