UN Security Council Urges Guinea to Set Election Date – Text of Press Statement
Guinean soldiers remove boxes filled with electoral materials froma a warehouse on fire in a military camp in Conakry, 16 septembre 2010
UN Urges Guinea to Set Election Date
18 septembre 2010
VOA News
The U.N. Security Council is urging Guinea to act swiftly in setting a new date for the presidential runoff election, which was postponed earlier in the week.
After a closed-door Council meeting Friday, the U.N. body said holding peaceful, free and fair elections is vital to re-establishing constitutional order in Guinea.
The election had been set for Sunday. Guinea’s electoral commission postponed the vote Wednesday after allegations of fraud, the death of the electoral commission president and political violence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm in Guinea.
West African leaders meeting Friday in Nigeria called on Guinea to hold a runoff election within three weeks.
Supporters of former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo say Alpha Conde’s campaign is purposely postponing the runoff vote. Mr. Diallo won twice as many votes as Mr. Conde in the first round.
Guinean authorities suspended campaigning last Sunday after clashes between supporters of the two candidates.
Text of UN Security Council Press Statement on Elections in Guinea
Source: United Nations Security Council
Date: 17 Sep 2010
SC/10035
AFR/2034
The following Security Council press statement was read out today by Council President Ertuğrul Apakan (Turkey):
The members of the Security Council were briefed by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun on the situation in Guinea.
The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern at the clashes that occurred on 11 and 12 September in Guinea, in which one person died and at least 50 others were injured.
The members of the Security Council regretted the postponement of the second round of the presidential elections and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to set a new date and organize it as soon as possible. The members of the Security Council stressed the importance of ensuring a peaceful, free and fair electoral process in Guinea, the only way to re-establish the constitutional and democratic order. They urged all national stakeholders to uphold the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission and to support its efforts towards the organization of transparent and peaceful elections.
The members of the Security Council called on the Guinean authorities and the candidates in the second round of the presidential election to meet their own commitments and obligations, including the “Protocole d’Accord de Ouagadougou pour une élection apaisée” signed on 3 September 2010, under the aegis of the Facilitator, President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso.
The members of the Security Council called on the Guinean authorities to take all the appropriate measures to promote a calm and peaceful electoral environment. They urged the supporters of the two presidential candidates to refrain from any provocation, incitement to hatred or recourse to violence. In this context the members of the Security Council welcomed the Interim President, General Sekouba Konaté’s declaration on the strict neutrality of the army in the electoral process.
The members of the Security Council will continue to closely follow the situation on the ground in Guinea.
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