Voters in the Central African Republic (CAR) cast their ballots on Sunday in delayed legislative elections and a presidential runoff, which they hope would bring peace after the nation’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 toward rebirth if the polls and their aftermath go smoothly.
“It is crucial that people vote today,” said Paterne, a voter in his 40s, as he queued at a polling station in the capital, Bangui. “For the first time, we have a true opportunity to turn our backs on war.”
Photo: AP
The vote apparently passed off peacefully, with security tight as UN peacekeepers and French soldiers helped to patrol areas where tensions remain high.
The two men in the close presidential race are both former Central African prime ministers, who have campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich, but dirt-poor, nation.
Anicet Georges Dologuele, a 58-year-old former central banker, known as “Mr Clean” for his efforts to bring transparency to murky public finances, won the first round on Dec. 30 last year, taking 23.78 percent of the vote.
He faced Faustin Archange Touadera, a former maths professor, in the runoff. Also 58 years old, Touadera is standing as an independent and surprised many people by coming second in the first round with 19.4 percent.
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.
Dologuele wished voters a happy Valentine’s Day as he cast his ballot in Bangui.
“Valentine’s is a celebration of love, and I wouldd like Central Africans to see voting today as an act of love for their country,” he said.
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.”
Touadera, speaking to voters near the working-class neighborhood 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.”
Central Africans also voted in a re-run of the previous legislative election, also held on Dec. 30 last year, that was later annulled over numerous irregularities.
A total of 1,800 candidates are competing for 105 seats in the National Assembly.
Queues in the capital were noticeably thinner than in December, with barely half of eligible voters having cast their ballots less than two hours before polling stations closed.
Voters in some parts of Bangui and the provinces complained of being turned away because their names were not on the list, or because they were not carrying proof of identity.
The race for the presidency is expected to be close, but results are not expected for several days.
Dologuele has the backing of the candidate who came third in the first round, while Touadera has the support of 22 other candidates who ran in December.
The CAR’s most recent episode of bloodletting was sparked by the March 2013 ousting of long-serving Central African president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance.
The coup sparked a series of revenge attacks involving Muslim forces and Christian vigilante groups, known as “anti-balaka” — anti-machete — militias.
Thousands were slaughtered in the spiral of atrocities that drove about one-tenth of the population of 4.8 million to flee their homes.
Both Dologuele and Touadera are Christians.
Turnout was high in December’s elections, despite huge logistical problems and grinding poverty. About 1.3 million valid ballots were cast in a nation with nearly 2 million registered voters.
The elections came after 93 percent of voters backed a constitutional referendum that cleared the way for the vote.
It also followed Pope Francis’ groundbreaking trip in November last year — his first to a war zone. His impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation has been taken up by candidates, political parties and religious leaders.
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