Côte d'Ivoire / UNOCI head meets the CNRD

ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, November 14, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Bert Koenders, met the Congrès National pour la Resistance et la Démocratie (CNRD, National Congress for Resistance and Democracy) on Friday afternoon at the political group's headquarters in Abidjan's Cocody neighbourhood.

At the end of the one-hour meeting, Mr. Koenders told journalists that he had discussed political issues with the CNRD. “We examined together some points of the demands they have made to the Ivorian authorities,” the UNOCI Chief said.

Referring to the demands, the Special Representative stated that it was important for the different parties to make compromises. “This country needs a parliament to emerge definitively from the crisis,” he said. “That's why I continue to meet with all the political authorities of the country to advocate for the participation of everyone so as to have a representative parliament.”

On the issue of an extension of the deadline for the submission of candidatures, the UNOCI head stated that this was up to the Independent Electoral Commission to decide, not the UN.

For his part, Toussea Oulaï Alphonse, interim Secretary-General of the CNRD, referred to the liberation of some of the movement's cadres, stating that the Congress welcomed this decision by the Ivorian authorities.

However, he said the CNRD's position remained unchanged. “We want to take part in the elections, but our demands must be examined,” he stressed. “There must be effective dialogue between us, Ivorians.”

On Friday morning, the UNOCI head met for an hour and a half with a delegation of the FPI, with which he discussed the electoral process.