The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has urged political leaders to show restraint and focus on the peace process aimed at unifying the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government-held south and a northern area dominated by the rebel Forces Nouvelles."It is also imperative to avoid an escalation of verbal confrontation which would only divert attention from the issues that real concern Ivorians," UNOCI spokesperson Hamadoun Touré told journalists in Abidjan.
In response to a question on the call by elements of the Forces Nouvelles for the Prime Minister to resign, Mr. Touré said that it was an internal matter and underscored the importance of the institutional framework established by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. "We are counting on this system, otherwise we are going to find ourselves in situations which could be beyond our control and take us back."
He noted that there are urgent challenges to overcome in order to organize open, free, fair and democratic elections as soon as possible.
After a meeting with the West-African nation's Prime Minister yesterday, Y. J. Choi, head of UNOCI, told correspondents that there is now peace and stability in the country, with commercial activity in the south, north and west, and the identification and voter registration operation making strides.
However, he said, there have been delays in the electoral process, which now lacks a timetable, along with slow implementation of the latest addendums to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, especially with regards to the transfer of authority, the centralization of the treasury and the redeployment of the administration in the north.
Earlier, the spokesman had announced that Mr. Choi, who is also the Special Representative of Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, would be presenting the Secretary-General's latest report on the country to the Security Council on 28 April.
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