'ICoast poll must be this year'
2009-07-30 19:03
New York - The Security Council on Thursday unanimously agreed to extend the mandate of French-backed UN troops in the Ivory Coast for six months to support free and fair elections which it said must be held on November 29.
The 15-member body adopted a French-drafted resolution that extends the mandate of the force known by its French acronym ONUCI until January 31 and underlined that the first round of the often-delayed presidential election must be held on November 29.
Resolution 1880 underlined that "the Ivorian political actors are bound to respect this time line to demonstrate their political commitment toward the holding of free, fair, open and transparent elections."
It directed ONUCI to support actively the parties in implementing remaining tasks under their Ouagadougou peace accords, "in particular those that are essential to the holding of the free, fair, open and transparent presidential election of November 29 2009."
ONUCI, which includes 7 661 troops backed by 900 French troops, is tasked with enforcing security and assisting the voter registration process in the former French colony.
Presidential elections in what was once a vibrant regional economic powerhouse have been delayed several times since President Laurent Gbagbo's mandate ran out in October 2005 after problems with voter registration.
France's UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert blamed the past delays on "the lack of political will" by the Ivorian parties.
And he warned them that the Security Council "would judge them by their acts."
"If the November 29 elections are postponed, responsibilities will be clearly established and the Security Council will draw (appropriate) consequences," Ripert told the council. "The Ivorian people deserve to see the November 29 2009 date respected."
In an immediate rejoinder, Ivory Coast's UN Ambassador Ilahiri Djedje said Ripert's comments about the lack of political will by Ivorian parties were "not useful."
"France had the opportunity to settle the Ivorian problem with the (2003) Marcoussis accords. Instead of resolving the issue, it sought rather to transfer the powers of the president (Gbabgbo) to the prime minister," he added.
The Marcoussis deal was intended to bring rebel and opposition leaders into a transition government to end a civil war that grew out of a September 2002 bid by northern rebels led by Guillaume Soro to oust Gbagbo's government.
Soro is now the Ivorian prime minister.
Peace accords signed in 2007 and then late in 2008 in Ouagadougou first saw Soro become prime minister, and then set a timetable for the presidential election, which lapsed several times.