20111204
Press TV
The United Nations envoy to Ivory Coast has called on the politicians of the West African nation to use the upcoming election to end the political standoff in the country.

"It is vital that the elections be a step in the country's reconciliation process," the UN secretary general's special representative for Ivory Coast Bert Koenders said on Friday, at a meeting with parties vying in the country's parliamentary elections of December 11.

In November 2010, Ivory Coast's then President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to his electoral rival Alassane Ouattara, despite international calls to step down.

Gbagbo's refusal to hand over power to ignited a deadly crisis that left 3,000 people dead and pushed the country on the brink of civil war.

Ouattara finally routed Gbagbo forces with UN and French military support in April and was sworn in as the new president.

On November 30, Gbagbo was transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he is to stand trial next Monday charged with four counts of crimes against humanity.

Shortly before the start of the campaign for the upcoming general polls, Koenders called for an inclusive electoral and political process.

But Gbagbo loyalists, who have pulled out of the reconciliation process following their leader's transfer to the ICC, have announced a boycott against the vote.

On Friday, the UN envoy warned against rigged vote results and highlighted his mission's "role as certifier of the legislative elections".

Koenders said the UN operation in Ivory Coast will commit 7,000 military and police to support the 25,000 Ivorian gendarme and police charged with providing security for the elections.

The United Nations has a 10,000-strong peacekeeping operation in the country.