Hopes for peace in Central Africa vote
People queue at a polling station in the Muslim district of PK 5 in Bangui before voting on February 14, 2016. The nation, dogged by coups, violence and misrule since winning independence from France, could take a step towards rebirth if the polls go smoothly. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The two candidates vying for the presidency are both former prime ministers who have campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but dirt-poor country.
- Voters were also casting their ballots Sunday in a re-run of the last legislative election, also held on December 30, that was later annulled over numerous irregularities.
BANGUI
Voters in the Central African Republic were casting their ballots Sunday in delayed legislative elections and a presidential run-off which they hope will bring peace after the country’s worst sectarian violence since independence in 1960.
The nation, dogged by coups, violence and misrule since winning independence from France, could take a step towards rebirth if the polls go smoothly.
“What we want first and foremost is security to give a new impetus to the country,” said a soldier who gave his name as Ndadder as he waited to vote in PK5, a Muslim-majority area in the capital Bangui which had been the scene of bloody religious violence.
The two candidates vying for the presidency are both former prime ministers who have campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but dirt-poor country.
The first round on December 30 was won by ex-premier Anicet Georges Dologuele, a 58-year-old former central banker known as “Mr Clean” for his attempts to bring transparency to murky public finances when in office. He took 23.78 per cent of the vote.
He faces off against Faustin Archange Touadera, also 58. The former maths professor, who is standing as an independent, surprised everyone by coming second in the first round with 19.4 per cent.
Mr Touadera’s popularity stems from a measure he introduced as prime minister — paying government salaries directly into bank accounts, ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages.
ELECTION TIME
Mr Dologuele wished voters a happy Valentine’s Day as he cast his ballot in Bangui, adding: “Valentine’s is a celebration of love, and I’d like Central Africans to see voting today as an act of love for their country.”
He spoke of the “joy of being able to vote in the second round and in doing so, to participate in the transition and the start of a new era for the Central African Republic,” Mr Touadera, speaking to voters near the working-class neighbourhood of Boy Rabe, pitched himself as the people’s candidate.
“I am confident of the outcome of the vote,” he told supporters who were already addressing him as “president”.
Voters were also casting their ballots Sunday in a re-run of the last legislative election, also held on December 30, that was later annulled over numerous irregularities.
A staggering 1,800 candidates are competing for a place in the 105-seat National Assembly.
Polls opened at 6.00 am (0500 GMT) — though some polling stations opened late — with the vote set to close at 1500 GMT.
“Overall it’s going very well, except for some problems in certain polling stations,” said Marie Madeleine N’Kouet Hoornaert, president of the National Elections Authority.
