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Central African Republic Votes In Presidential Runoff

Central African Republic Votes In Presidential Runoff

From BusinessDayLive. Story by AFP.

Voters in the Central African Republic cast their ballots on Sunday in delayed legislative elections and a presidential runoff which they hope will bring peace after the country’s worst sectarian violence since independence in 1960.

The nation, dogged by coups and misrule since winning independence from France, could take a step towards rebirth if the polls and their aftermath go smoothly.

The vote apparently passed off peacefully, with security tight as United Nations peacekeepers and French soldiers helped to patrol areas where tensions remain high.

The two men in the close presidential race are both former prime ministers who have campaigned on promises to restore security and boost the economy in the mineral-rich but poor country.

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, taking 23.78 percent of the vote.

He faced Faustin Archange Touadera, a former maths professor, in the runoff. Also 58, Touadera was standing as an independent and surprised everyone 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.

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”.

 

The race for the presidency is expected to be close but results are not expected for several days.

CAR’s most recent episode of bloodletting was sparked by the March 2013 ousting of long-serving 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 killed in the spiral of atrocities that drove about a tenth of the population of 4.8 million to flee their homes.

Both Dologuele and Touadera are Christians.

 

Read more at BusinessDayLive.