Central African Republic set for presidential poll

VOTERS in the Central African Republic has overwhelmingly backed a constitutional referendum which clears the way for parliamentary and presidential polls next Sunday.

Electoral officials said yestrday that 93 percent voted in favour of the reforms limiting the president’s tenure to two terms, fighting institutional corruption and reining in armed militias.

The referendum was seen as a test run for the much-delayed elections aimed at ending more than two years of sectarian conflict.

The new basic law will usher in the sixth republic since independence from France in 1960 and mark the 13th political regime in a country noted for chronic instability.

The former French colony is trying to get back on its feet since being plunged into conflict after a mainly Muslim rebellion overthrew longtime Christian leader Francois Bozize in 2013.

Violence marred the recent balloting held on December 13 and14, with five people killed and 20 injured in an attack in the flashpoint Muslim-majority PK-5 district of Bangui.

Hundreds of people headed to the UN peacekeeping headquarters last Wednesday to demand the expulsion of the “enemies of peace” in PK-5.
Almost two million Central Africans had registered to vote in a population of 4.8 million, a clear sign of a widespread desire to return to a life of peace and normalcy.

But turnout was only 38 percent, said Marie Madeleine N’kouet Hoornaert, president of the National Elections Authority.