Ivory Coast’s prime minister announces long overdue presidential election date

Ivory Coast prime minister announces election date

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Ivory Coast will finally hold long overdue presidential elections on October 31, bringing hope that an eight-year political crisis which divided the country in two may be coming to an end.

Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced the date after a cabinet meeting in the political capital of Yamoussoukro on Thursday, just days before the country’s 50th anniversary of independence celebrations.

Since a failed coup in 2002, the country has been divided between a rebel-controlled north and a government-controlled south. Peace accords signed in 2007 brought rebels into a power-sharing government and called for elections within a year.

Presidential elections have been delayed every year since 2005, when President Laurent Gbagbo finished his last term.