Residents feared another coup was being organized. When the army toppled the regime of Henri Konan Bedie last year, the citizens expected the new government to restore stability, deal with unemployment and put to an end tribal politics. In fact people cheered the military takeover because they were fed up with the corrupt and divisive civilian regime. But the military has not offered any solution at all. Its the coalition with the civilian political parties has now splintered.
Ivory Coast has Africa's third largest economy and is the leading world producer of cocoa.
But the economy is in a crisis. The country is under heavy debt burden and the price of cocoa is at an all time low. No loans or aid is forthcoming because the country has not been stable for the last one decade. The West African nation was once viewed as one of the most stable countries in Africa. No military coup took place in the country since independence from France in the early 1960s until last year's military takeover.