Opposition groups demand abolition of elections
A powerful opposition coalition in the Central African Republic called on Wednesday for the “outright cancellation” of the weekend's elections which were severely hampered by armed groups.
More than a third of the country's struggling districts did not take part in Sunday's first round of voting for the presidency and the National Assembly, according to official figures.
In a statement, the Democratic Opposition Coalition (COD-2020), an alliance of political and other groups in the coup-prone country, said the elections “were not fair and inclusive and are not in no case the expression of the will of the people ”.
Condemning an “electoral farce”, he reported widespread ballot tampering and complained about the lack of observers in remote areas of the mineral rich but poor country.
The twin elections, which the government on Tuesday called “credible, committed and popular”, were seen as a key test of stability for the CAR.
The landlocked nation, one of the poorest in the world, has seen a series of coups and wars since gaining independence from France in 1960.
In 2013, it degenerated into bloodshed again when then-president François Bozize, who had himself taken power a decade earlier, was overthrown by a predominantly Muslim coalition called Séléka.
The favorite in the peloton of 16 presidential candidates is incumbent Faustin Archange Touadera, elected in 2016 after an eventful transition after the coup.
But his government only controls about a third of the country, with militias resulting from the conflict in 2013 controlling the other two-thirds of the territory.
The government accused Bozize on December 19 of plotting a coup d'état with several armed groups it said were advancing on the capital, an accusation that Bozize denies.
Fears about the rebels swept through the city in the following days, although the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA said the advance had been halted.
In many areas, militia groups hampered the organization of elections and intimidated voters, according to local leaders and UN workers who asked not to be named.
In addition, thousands of people were prevented from voting or never received their voting cards due to lack of security.
'By-elections'
The vote did not take place in 29 of the country's 71 sub-prefectures (sub-divisions of large administrative districts), Minister of Territorial Administration Augustin Yangana-Yahote told reporters on Monday.
Six other sub-prefectures only managed a partial vote, Theophile Momokoama, the general rapporteur of the National Electoral Authority (ANE), told AFP.
The UN says many polling stations managed to open, but then quickly closed or remained empty due to voter intimidation.
During a press conference on Tuesday, observers from international organizations, mainly from the 11 countries of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) of which the CAR is a member, expressed their satisfaction with the elections.
But Thierry Vircoulon, researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), declared: “These are by-elections, they are not credible and do not meet international standards”.
The vote count is expected to take three weeks as the ballots have to be transported to Bangui due to insecurity.
Weeks before results
Provisional results are expected from January 4, but no final results are expected until January 18. A second round will take place on February 14 if there is no absolute winner in the first round.
Touadera's electoral victory in 2015-16 was declared after an equally long period marked by allegations of missing ballots and other irregularities.
COD-2020 had already called on December 19 for the cancellation of the elections.
Nathalia Dukhan, a specialist on CAR with an American NGO called The Sentry, said that electoral fraud in the 2015-16 vote “was tolerated and therefore legitimized” - it was seen as the price to pay for consolidating peace after the civil war.
“But today, it is all the political opposition that condemns the massive rigging,” she said.
Government spokesman Ange Maxime Kazagui ignored opponents on Tuesday, insisting that the Central African people “have shown their firm will to go and vote, despite the dangers”.
“The vote took place in the 16 prefectures of the CAR. Eight hundred polling stations out of 5,408 were not opened. This means that 85% of the polling stations were open to the public, ”he said.
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