In Cote d'Ivoire, UN mission to decide on election certification next week

U.N. - Africa Friday 3rd February, 2012

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) said today that he hopes to decide next week on the partial certification of parliamentary elections held in the West African country near the end of last year.

Bert Koenders, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cote d'Ivoire and the head of UNOCI, held a meeting today in Abidjan with the chairmen of the Constitutional Council and the Independent Electoral Commission.

Mr. Koenders, who is tasked with certifying the polls after their conclusion, said the three men discussed all elements still unresolved.

He said the partial certification would take place with a view to moving the electoral process forward in Cote d'Ivoire.

"We shall thus be able to move ahead with other things," he said. "There has been progress and that is positive."

Elections for the 225-member National Assembly were held on 11 December, just over a year after Alassane Ouattara won a disputed presidential run-off election that led to months of deadly violence when the incumbent and runner-up Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede.