What's In Blue

Posted Tue 26 Jul 2011

Côte d’Ivoire Mandate Renewal

The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) tomorrow, 27 July. The text of the draft resolution should go under silence procedure this afternoon, and if there is no objection the draft resolution should go into blue this evening.

It seems that there has been a slight divide between Council members over how to characterise the risks to stability in Côte d’Ivoire between those members who still see many risks (including the legislative elections as a possible trigger point) and those members who consider the crisis to be resolved. Likewise there were apparently some different perspectives between Council members in the negotiations on how to characterise the extent of the risks to regional stability (especially to Liberia) of continued instability in Côte d’Ivoire. That said, it seems that all Council members are comfortable that UNOCI’s mandate should be renewed for 12 months at the current troop level (ie. also including the ad hoc troop increases from resolutions 1942 and 1967).

Council members had wondered if the issue of the UN’s role in certifying the legislative elections might have become a contentious issue in the negotiations. However it seems not. (The statement by the representative of Côte d’Ivoire in the Council’s meeting of 18 July, that his government supported the UN continuing to have a certification role was perhaps a factor).

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