(5 minutes read)
· Voting took place yesterday (Sunday) for the Central African Republic’s presidential and legislative elections
· The campaign trail for the elections was marred by violence between rebels and government forces
· The Constitution Court rejected a demand by the opposition parties to postpone the elections on account of the insecurity prevailing in the country
Voting took place yesterday (Sunday) for the Central African Republic’s presidential and legislative elections. The campaign trail for the elections was marred by violence between rebels and government forces. The Constitution Court rejected a demand by the opposition parties to postpone the elections on account of the insecurity prevailing in the country.
President Faustin-Archange Touadera is seeking a second term. He has tried to reassure candidates and voters that the voting would be secure and he would be working for the development of the country, if elected. This is the country’s first election since a peace deal was signed between the government and 14 rebel groups in February 2019. However, there is no respite in sight for fighting. Three peacekeepers deployed by the UN were killed and a few others wounded in the fight between the violent mob and security agencies. The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks in the Dekoua and Bakouma areas ahead of the elections.
Recently, the U.N. retook the town of Bambari from rebel forces. Reports indicate that the rebels are also in control in some other towns. Whether the UN forces would try to regain these towns is still not known. Reports also suggest that some natives are also fleeing the country in anticipation of escalation of violence.
The government believes that the person behind the trouble is former President Francois Bozize. He returned from exile a year ago but was debarred from contesting the election by the Constitution Court. He,,it is alleged, have ganged up armed groups to destabilize the government. For suppressing violence let loose by the armed groups, Rwanda and Russia have each sent hundreds of troops to the country.
There are sixteen candidates in the fray for presidential post and three among them are women. The national assembly seats numbering 140 are being contested by over 1500 candidates. There are 1.86 million voters registered. Close to 598,000 people fled the CAR to neighboring countries and will not be able to vote, according to the UN. The mineral rich CAR has been an epicenter of religious clashes since 2013
The CAR gained independence from France in 1960. Since then, it has faced deep social, economic and political upheavals. Though many describe the turmoil between Muslims and Christians as the root cause of the violence, analysts say that it was triggered by the warring elites to gain control over the rich resources of the country.
