The Central African Republic will vote on Sunday 27 December to elect its president and his deputies in a tense context. Armed groups, united in a coalition to prevent elections, have started a descent towards the capital Bangui. Fierce fighting has erupted in the interior of the country, with the vote still uncertain due to threats and fears in recent days.
The polling stations opened from kl. 6 this Sunday, December 27 in the Central African Republic for high-tension presidential and legislative elections. 1.8 million voters are called to the ballot box. On the eve of the vote, fighting continuedin the country between armed groups united in a coalition and government forces. On Friday, December 25, three peacekeepers were killed.
In recent days, calls for a technical postponement of the vote have been multiplied due to this violence and its consequences for the preparations for the vote. Thursday after the resignation of Jean-Serge Bokassa, six opposition candidates thus referred to the Constitutional Court to demand “resumption of elections” under Article 115 of the Electoral Code. This allows for the resumption of the organization of the election with a new list of candidates in the event of “withdrawal of one of the candidates between the publication of the list of candidates and the first day of the vote”.
A total of eight appeals to postpone these elections were filed. The Constitutional Court dismissed them all. In a decision handed down on Saturday, she claims that postponing the vote would not meet the constitutional deadlines that prescribe the installation of a new president by March 30. The international partners in the Central African Republic, led by Minusca, have continued to ask to hold the vote on the scheduled date so as not to “agree with those who want to lead the country into a transition”, as the head of Minusca said Friday, optimistic about the ability of the United Nations mission to “meet” the situation.
Quiet in Bangui, violence in other localities in the country
LaCentrafrique also received reinforcements from Rwanda and Russia. Aid that did not prevent diplomatic sources from expressing behind the scenes their concern about security risks hanging over this vote Saturday night. In the capital, spared from violence (despite rumors of the intrusion of armed elements at the beginning of the week), there is some enthusiasm. Gerville from Banguissois told Charlotte Cosset for RFI’s satisfaction at seeing this vote maintained: “It is our duty as a worthy Central African to say that we have the right to vote to build our country.”
But the much more precarious security situation in the rest of the country gives rise to concern and misunderstandings. Raphaël, another resident of the capital, sums up this feeling: “Will the election only take place in Bangui? And inland, how will it be? The court ruled, no problem; but armed bandits are fiercely inland! That does not make sense.”
Several reasons for concern
La Minusca and the National Electoral Commission have given reassuring speeches over the last three days. But on Saturday, it was still difficult to get exact numbers. According to Minusca, the distribution of ballot papers on Friday had started in 87% of the polling stations, but it was impossible to know how many Central Africans had actually drawn their cards, our special correspondent notes. Florence morice.
The same goes for the roll-out of equipment: in parallel with optimistic speeches – and difficult to verify – testimonies from several localities in the interior of the country raise questions. On our Saturday, according to our information, the material had mostly arrived in the divisions, but first began to be transported to centers and polling stations in many places. Will it all have happened on time this Sunday morning?
What about the election material that was destroyed or confiscated during the attacks, as was the case in Bambari? Without forgetting several testimonies from agents of the authority responsible for the election, as confident of having received threats from several armed groups in different areas of the country. Will these agents dare to open the polling stations? And will the population dare to vote? Knowing that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) since the beginning of this crisis has already identified tens of thousands of new displaced persons fleeing clashes or the arrival of armed groups at their sites.
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