Ivory Coast to Deploy 30,000 Security Forces for Elections

(Bloomberg) -- Ivory Coast will deploy 30,000 security forces at polling stations for Dec. 18 parliamentary elections, Youssouf Bakayoko, head of the West African country’s electoral commission, said in an e-mailed statement.

The deployment of a large number of troops is necessary because the vote “is more complicated than the presidential election” held last year, government spokesman Bruno Kone said by phone on Friday. “There’s a lot at stake and the risk of violence is higher. There could be tension in several cities at the same time.”

While the former ruling Front Populaire Ivoirien boycotted polls since it lost power in 2010, it’s participating in the parliamentary elections with 187 candidates. A total of about 1,390 hopefuls will contest 255 seats in the National Assembly.

To contact the reporter on this story: Baudelaire Mieu in Abidjan at bmieu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Vernon Wessels