The new election date in Cote d'Ivoire is likely to be known "next week," the U Nations Operations in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) announced here on Wednesday.
Initially scheduled for Nov. 29, the date was "slightly changed" because of inadequate preparations for the electoral list, which needs more time for cross-check to ensure the long-awaited presidential elections are free from any rig.
The ONUCI statement quoted representative of the UN secretary general in Cote d'Ivoire Choi Young-Ji as saying, "the fixation of the new date will be done under the framework of final consultation forum (CPC) expected to be held next week in Ouagadougou," the capital of Burkina Faso.
The CPC, which stems from the Ouagadougou political accord, will bring to the facilitator in the Cote d'Ivoire crisis, Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, opposition leaders Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie, President Laurent Gbagbo and his Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, the leader of the former rebel New Forces (FN).
The ONUCI statement said Choi had met with party officials in Cote d'Ivoire, including Republicans Assembly (RDR) President Alassane Ouattara, on the display of electoral list and security for the electoral process.
"On these issues, Choi noted that there are good prospects," the statement said.
ONUCI is distributing the provisional electoral list in all centers across the national territory in preparation for its display.
"We must display the electoral list within the shortest time possible so that all contentions can be sorted out since this is a very crucial
stage," Choi quoted as saying in the statement.
Meanwhile, the RDR president deplored the delays in the execution of the electoral timetable, hoping that "we should have the elections in January 2010."
"We are not happy that this date (Nov. 29) was not respected, but for the sake of peace, we are ready to accept a slight change of some weeks," the statement quoted him as saying.
Cote d'Ivoire suffered a civil war after a botched coup attempt in 2002, splitting the leading cocoa and diamond exporter in West Africa into the government controlled south and the FN held north.
Under a series of agreement brokered by Burkina Faso, the rival sides have agreed to hold the polls to end the protracted political crisis, only to postpone the election date amid differences, or delayed work on such issues as the voter identification and the verification of the electoral list.
ONUCI currently deploys a 8,000-strong mission in Cote d'Ivoire to maintain peace in the run-up to the elections.