The presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire which was scheduled for November 30 has been delayed.
Leading politicians of the West African country made a joint statement on Monday, saying the presidential race could not be held as planned as preparations for the polls were behind schedule, said agencies' reports.
The UN Security Council expressed grave concerns last Saturday over another election delay in Cote d'Ivoire, saying the current voter identification and registration process was too slow for the scheduled poll date.
The UN Security Council indicated that the Nov. 30 presidential election may have to be postponed again because of the slow identification and registration work, posing a risk to compromise the whole peace process in the West African nation.
Later last month, the Security Council decided to extend arms and diamonds embargo on Cote d'Ivoire for an additional year until Oct. 31, 2009.
The presidential election has been repeatedly postponed as rival political forces rowed over issues concerning demilitarization and identification since October 2005 when the scheduled vote failed to take place following a civil war that erupted in September 2002.
On March 4, 2007, President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel New Forces leader Guillaume Soro concluded a peace deal in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, under which both sides committed themselves to disarming combatants, redeploying regional administrators and organizing elections. In April , the parties concerned agreed to hold the presidential election on Nov. 30.
Cote d'Ivoire, a leading cocoa and diamond exporter in western Africa, was split in two after a botched coup attempt by the New Forces (FN) rebels in 2002, with the north under FN control.