Cote d'Ivoire says to better guide media during presidential campaigns

A Cote d'Ivoire said Tuesday it was necessary to come up with a framework to guide media during the pre-campaign and the campaign period, with support from media regulatory authorities.

Sourou Kone, vice-president of the country's Independent Electoral Commission, made the remarks during a forum in the capital city of Abidjan that brought together media stakeholders to discuss the role of media in the country's electoral process.

"With 62 days remaining before the presidential elections on Oct. 25, it was important for all of us to meet and discuss ways to organize the elections in the best conditions possible," Kone said at the opening of the forum.

The president of the National Media Council Raphael Lakpe and the president of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communications Ibrahim Sy Savane hailed the CEI initiative and promised "to do everything possible for an efficient collaboration."

"We have agreed to meet and review certain issues and jointly come up with practical modalities because we are just two months away from the elections," Sy Savane said after the meeting.

According to the CEI timetable, the electoral campaigns for the Oct. 25 elections will be conducted between Oct. 10 to 23.

It is hoped that the forthcoming elections will help to consolidate peace, promote national reconciliation and normalize the political life after the 2010 post-election crisis that left 3,000 people dead in Cote d'Ivoire. Endit