AU to maintain pressure on Côte d’Ivoire over polls

(PANA)-- African Union (AU) has vowed to keep up the pressure on the Ivorian political leadership until it holds long-overdue elections.

The AU’s peace and security council (PSC) said the formation of a new government - after violence rocked parts of the West African country, leading to death and destruction of property - and the appointment of the head of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) should help ease the political tension.

It said the easing of tension and the return of calm should enable the country’s political leaders to begin preparations for the elections, within the framework of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, signed by the government and former rebel leaders to end a crisis that broke out in 2002.

After a meeting held in Addis Ababa under the chairmanship of Zambian Ambassador Albert Muchanga, the PSC President for March, the council said it believed that holding the elections and the implementation of the agreements aimed at ending the crisis in the country, including another pact, known as the supplementary agreements ‘constitute the framework for ending the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire.

However, the PSC said it would continue to review the situation in Cote the country at least once a month in an apparent attempt to maintain the pressure on President Laurent Gbagbo to hold elections.

The PSC, which comprises 15 African states, said it was worried by the difficulties recently encountered in the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. Under the agreement, the Ivorian presidential elections should be held by May 2010.

The AU said the difficulties that the Ivorian politicians have encountered in the implementation of the various agreements were responsible for the violence in the country in February. The PSC praised the efforts of President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso for in helping to end political crisis.

It stressed the need for all parties, including President Gbagbo and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, to ‘scrupulously respect the commitments that they have made’.

The council urged all parties to cooperate fully with the IEC to enable it to effectively discharge the responsibilities entrusted to it, including the settlement of the disputes on the voters’ register and the establishment of a final one.

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