ABIDJAN -Opposition parties in Cote d’Ivoire on Friday in Abidjan announced the return of their members to the country’s Independent Electoral Commission.
The parties, acting under the aegis of the Alliance of Democratic Forces (AFD), disclosed the return in a statement signed by its Vice President, Danielle Boni-Claverie.
“We have resolved to return to the commission and play our roles in ensuring a successful election in the country,’’ the AFD said in the statement.
The News Agłkopposition pulled out of the election commission accusing the government of insincerity in the process of its reconstitution.
The AFD, which includes the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party of former President Luarent Gbagbo, also rejected re-emergence of the commission’s immediate past President Mr Youssouf Bakayoko as its head.
According to the AFD, Bakayoko is unfit to oversee the commission following the crisis that rocked the country following the 2010 presidential election which he conducted.
Meanwhile, the Head of the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI), Ms Aitchatou Mindaoudou, has described the return of the opposition to the election commission as a welcome development.
In a statement issued in Abidjan on Friday, Mindaoudou described the decision as a good demonstration of `republican spirit’.
“I commend the government and the coalition of opposition parties for their efforts to create the necessary conditions for the conduct of an inclusive election.
“I also call on the Ivorian political class, civil society and all other stakeholders to play roles that will engender a peaceful presidential election in 2015,’’ she said. (NAN)
