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Dakar
04 September 2009
Former Ivorian leader Henri Konan Bédié says he will run in the
country's presidential elections scheduled for November.
Former
Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié is one of two candidates now
officially registered for the country's long-delayed presidential
elections, though others have expressed their intention to run.
The
vote, now slated for November 29, is an attempt to find a lasting
political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once
stable West African nation.
Bédiéé was ousted in a military coup
in December of 1999. He was then barred from running in the 2000
elections in which he would have opposed coup leader Robert Guei and
current President Laurent Gbagbo.
Civil war cut the nation in
half in 2002, after rebels attempting to overthrow President Gbagbo
took control of the northern part of the country. The country has since
missed deadlines for presidential elections set by the peace accords of
2007 and late 2008.
Campaign director, Djédjé Madi, filed Bédié's papers at the Independent Electoral Commission.
Madi
says they are registering for this election with the intent to always
proceed in a positive manner so that Cote d'Ivoire can return to peace
and stability, rebuild with the confidence of those both inside and
outside the country and resume its path toward development.
He
says the commission can count on Bédié and his National Democratic
Party of Cote d'Ivoire to abide by the conditions set forth and work
each day towards bringing the country out of this difficult period.
Cote
d'Ivoire has already postponed the election several times since current
President Gbagbo's mandate ran out in October 2005 because of voter
registration issues.
Auguste Miremont is the spokesman for the Independent Election Commission.
Miremont
says the registration of presidential candidates shows the country
that, despite the delays, things are moving forward towards the
ultimate goal shared by all: the elections.
Miremont said that
70 percent of the commission's centers have finished processing voter
data and the publication of the electoral list, originally scheduled
for late August, is now planned for between the 12 and 15 of
September.
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