Cote d'Ivoire's President Laurent Gbagbo has said that there was a possibility for the country to hold presidential elections by December 2007.
"If we act in good faith, if we are determined, then we can organize the presidential elections by the end of this year, by December 2007," President Gbagbo said Monday while addressing the nation on the eve of the 47th anniversary of the country's independence.
"In a democracy, peace is established through elections and according to me, this should be the main guideline in the implementation of the other phases of the peace process," the president said.
According to him, the crisis affecting the country made it difficult for the country to hold normal elections, "therefore, it was important to remove all the obstacles in order remove the country from the crisis and hold elections in accordance with the country's constitution."
"I'm calling on everyone to participate fully in the preparations for the elections. Cote d'Ivoire must take this last step in order to end the crisis once and for all," Gbagbo said.
"But, we want free and fair elections and that's why we are opposed to electoral fraud," the president said while warning against any cheating during the public meetings, which will mark the first phase of the identification process, which is aimed at establishing the electoral registers.
"The public meetings are set to restart as the last obstacles, which has been standing in their way, was removed through the redeployment of regional administrators and the disarmament process that is set to begin soon," the president said.
In his speech, the president also thanked the international community for "taking part" in the "flame of peace" ceremony that took place in Bouake, stronghold of the former FN rebels, on July 31 to mark the official launch of the nationwide disarmament and reconciliation process.
Since a botched coup attempt that was carried out by the FN on September 2002, Cote d'Ivoire has fallen into a crisis that has left the country divided into two, with the north being under the control of the former New Forces (FN) rebels.
On March 4, 2007, President Gbagbo and FN secretary general Guillaume Soro concluded the Ouagadougou peace agreement and accordance with the provisions of the agreement, Soro was named prime minister to spearhead the search for lasting peace in the country.
According to this agreement, the two sides committed themselves to disarm combatants, redeploy regional administrators and organize elections, which have been postponed on several occasions since October 2005 owing to political disagreements, in a bid to reunify the country.
Source: Xinhua
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