The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Cote d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi, has confirmed that the Oct. 31 presidential election will be held as planned despite concerns about another postponement due to inadequate preparations. The UN envoy made the confirmation on Monday at a video-linked press conference with international correspondents based at the UN headquarters in New York. An official communique quoted Choi as saying he was confident that the election would take place as the main challenges facing the election process had been overcome. According to the timetable drawn up by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), he said, the provisional results of the presidential election will be first announced by the commission on Nov. 3. The Constitutional Council will proclaim the final results on Nov. 10 before they are certified by the special representative, he added. If there is no clear winner after the first round, then the second round will be organized on Nov. 28, the envoy declared. The authorities are busy distributing both national identity cards and voter cards across the West African country, which is expected to move out of the political crisis with a vote, but which has repeatedly postponed the elections since 2005 for a variety of reasons. Politicians from the presidential camp and the former rebel group have express doubts about the holding of the election on time, with some supporters of the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo deploring the slow distribution of the voter card and the opposition camp suggesting a delay to November. The country remains divided with the ex-rebel New Forces holding the north and the loyalists controlling the south since a civil war broke out following an attempted coup against Gbagbo. 