Ivorians vote in key poll

The atmosphere is described as friendly and peaceful

The people of Ivory Coast have been voting in municipal elections seen as the first real electoral test since the military coup in 1999.

Correspondents say the voting opened in a peaceful atmosphere in Abidjan, but a number of violent incidents were reported in the west of the country.

Violence disrupted controversial presidential and legislative polls last year. But the municpal elections are being contested for the first time by all major political parties.

Turn-out was reported to be fairly high.

Interest is high in the election because the main opposition Rally of Republicans (RDR) party of former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, is taking part.

Mr Outtara, who currently lives in exile in France, was controversially barred from contesting the 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections on the grounds that he was not 100% Ivorian.

Alassane Ouattara's party can prove their strength

Foreign donors who have all suspended aid to Ivory Coast since 1998, citing fiscal mismanagement and bad governance, are closely monitoring the elections.

Some 5.4m voters are eligible to vote in the poll, which elects representatives to 197 municipalities for the next five years.

First true test

While the general picture was peaceful, the polls closed in the south-western coastal resort town of Sassandra, about 250 kilometres (156 miles) west of Abidjan, after residents of two villages ransacked poll materials when they were excluded from the voters' lists at the last minute.

President Gbagbo's victory was tarnished

Clashes in the aftermath of last year's presidential and legislative elections claimed over 190 lives countrywide, according to official estimates, while the RDR says more than 300 of its supporters were killed in poll-related violence.

The vote has assumed unprecedented significance because of the participation of the RDR.

It is the first true test of the various parties' electoral strength since the coup d'etat turned the Ivorian political scene upside down over a year ago.

It is a chance for the ruling party to prove that Laurent Gbagbo's victory in the presidential election was not just a fluke caused by the lack of opposition.

It also represents an opportunity for Alassane Ouattara's supporters to prove that they cannot be written off as a one-man party and that their leader has a legitimate claim to be a major player in the new Ivory Coast.