Cote d'Ivoire to deploy 25,000 security forces for Dec. 11 legislative election

Cote d'Ivoire to deploy 25,000 security forces for Dec. 11 legislative election
At least 10,000 police officers, 10,000 gendarmes and 5,000 soldiers supported by the peacekeepers from the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) and the French Licorne Forces will be deployed across the West African country to provide security during the Dec. 11 parliamentary elections.

The planned deployment was revealed on Monday during a meeting to discuss security for the electoral process at the headquarters of Cote d'Ivoire's Independent Electoral Commission (CEI).

Colonel Moussa Fofana and Hortense Late Kouassi, both in charge of security at CEI, said the 25,000-strong deployment will provide security "before, during and after" the elections.

They will specifically provide security for the teams that will be putting up the voters' lists, the local electoral commissions, the polling stations and the candidates. They will also protect the results during the voting day.

"Issues of security are important if we are to organize these elections in a peaceful way," CEI President Youssouf Bakayoko said.

He asked the senior military officers to ensure that security is provided during the forthcoming elections across the entire national territory.

The different forces attending Monday's meeting affirmed that a security plan for the elections already exists and that the only remaining thing is to implement it.

Editor: Deng Shasha

English.news.cn   2011-11-22 16:46:25 FeedbackPrintRSS
ABIDJAN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua)