Former Ivorian leader Henri Konan Bédié says he will run in thecountry's presidential elections scheduled for November.
FormerIvorian President Henri Konan Bédié is édiéone of two candidates nowofficially registered for the country's long-delayed presidentialelections, though others have expressed their intention to run.
Thevote, now slated for November 29, is an attempt to find a lastingpolitical solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the oncestable West African nation.
Bédiéé was ousted in a military coupin December of 1999. He was then barred from running in the 2000elections in which he would have opposed coup leader Robert Guei andcurrent President Laurent Gbagbo.
Civil war cut the nation inhalf in 2002, after rebels attempting to overthrow President Gbagbotook control of the northern part of the country. The country has sincemissed deadlines for presidential elections set by the peace accords of2007 and late 2008.
Campaign director, Djédjé Madi, filed Bédié's papers at the Independent Electoral Commission.
Madisays they are registering for this election with the intent to alwaysproceed in a positive manner so that Cote d'Ivoire can return to peaceand stability, rebuild with the confidence of those both inside andoutside the country and resume its path toward development.
Hesays the commission can count on Bédié and his National DemocraticParty of Cote d'Ivoire to abide by the conditions set forth and workeach day towards bringing the country out of this difficult period.
Coted'Ivoire has already postponed the election several times since currentPresident Gbagbo's mandate ran out in October 2005 because of voterregistration issues.
Auguste Miremont is the spokesman for the Independent Election Commission.
Miremontsays the registration of presidential candidates shows the countrythat, despite the delays, things are moving forward towards theultimate goal shared by all: the elections.
Miremont said that70 percent of the commission's centers have finished processing voterdata and the publication of the electoral list, originally scheduledfor late August, is now planned for between the 12 and 15 ofSeptember.