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Polling stations are gradually closing their doors in the Central African Republic, and the count has started, especially in Bangui. Voting was generally calm in Bangui, the capital, but the situation was more mixed in the provinces.
With our special correspondent in Bangui, Florence morice
In total approx. 1.8 million Central Africans were called upon to elect their new president and their deputies. More armed groups, which for several days has led an offensive against this election, has interrupted the voting in many localities. There are even places where voters could not go to the polls.
The situation was very contrasted this Sunday between the interior of the country and the capital Bangui, where the vote was generally calm and where the concerns expressed by some this morning after sporadic shootings at night have disappeared. Many Bangui voters expressed their willingness to put their vote into the ballot so as not to see the infernal cycle of revolt and the powerful overthrow of power continue.
Internally, however, voting often took place in a climate of “psychosis” when it was able to take place. This is the case in Birao, for example, where it took intervention from Minusca so that polling stations can be opened.
“We no longer take power with weapons”
In Carnot, after a tense polling day, elements of the 3R armed group finally invaded the site and destroyed ballot papers after Minusca’s departure. In Bouar, where shots were heard all morning, the Central Africans could not vote at all. “In Bouar, early this morning at 3, bandits came out and started opening fire. Of course, civilians are not soldiers and taken with fear, they have sought refuge in their homes, ”Interior Minister Henri Wanzet told RFI.
However, he is pleased that Minusca’s intervention in particular made it possible for the vote to start in the afternoon in Kaga Bandoro and Bambari. “We are at the time of democracy, we no longer take power by arms, that is the 2013 model. We no longer take power by arms, power is through the ballot box”, he adds, however, believing that “the worst is avoided”.
Théophile Momokoama, the new rapporteur for ANE, acknowledges that the vote did not take place in some sub-prefectures. He says he collects the information, but says more than half of the country’s sub-prefectures have voted without giving further details at this stage. A “satisfactory” record according to him in the current context.
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