Friday, 23 July 2010 22:37

Written by MISNA

The new 23-member ‘National Commission of Debates and Special Programs’, set up to prepare for the next round of elections in the Ivory Coast, has started to meet after it was approved by a special law under the auspices of the National Council of Audio-Visual Communications (CNC).

The Commission includes media professionals as well as some ‘civil society’ and representatives of the 14 presidential candidates.

The date for the elections, predictably, has not been established yet; it is now being suggested that these may take place before the end of the year, after several postponements since 2005 over any number of pretexts, ranging from political to logistical problems.

The president of the CNCA, Franck Anderson Kouassy, noted that well known professionals and exponents of every political current are involved in the new Commission to assure citizens that all candidates will have equal access to the media during the campaign period.

The new organism will also have the task to keep track of expectations and requests from voters such as to direct future political debates on concrete issues of the daily life of Ivorians.

In case of a runoff, the CNCA would organize the traditional direct confrontation between the two winners of the first round.

Considered very important tools in the electoral period, the media will have to commit “to supply better information” while the new Commission will have to “ensure fairer access to media,” said Hanadoun Touré, a spokesman for the local UN (ONUCI) mission entrusted to support the process to emerge from the crisis.

During the provisional electoral list examination, which began on July 20, the media are asked to inform citizens, supplying them with the data and modalities to participate in the dispute.