the government and ANE want to be reassuring
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118 constituencies are called to vote in the by-elections on Sunday, March 14th. Second round for 49 constituencies, while 69 will vote again because they were prevented or the vote canceled during the 1st round on 27 December. In fact, the armed groups that controlled the two-thirds of the country had severely disrupted the vote by intimidation, ransacked polling stations, burned polls. This time, voters are wondering: will the vote be able to take place normally?
The government says it is ready and confident. The situation is completely different from the first round, the government spokesman assures. “We have learned the lessons and strengthened the security plan,” says Ange Maxime Kazagui, with the creation of priority security zones, more rollout. Important of Faca, the police and the gendarmerie. And especially a conquest of the territory.
“The government went into possession of several cities, which were in the hands of armed groups, and where the vote could not take place. I think there are at least ten. This puts us in a better position so that these choices take place at a reduced risk. ”
In recent weeks, the Central African Armed Forces, supported by their Russian and Rwandan allies, have deployed in much of the western country: Carnot, Bouar, Bozoum, Bossangoa, but also in eastern Bambari, Bria
Zéphirin Kaya, communications officer for the National Election Observatory, is pleased to note this. This will allow observers to be deployed outside the capital, he believes. “This is a step forward, because in the first round, many provincial towns were not covered by election observation. Even the international observers remained in Bangui and the adjoining cities. This time with the conquest of these cities we will be able to make an observation. ”
However, ONE observer will not be able to deploy anywhere. Some areas are still under the control of armed groups.
Adjustments
The national electoral authority responsible for organizing the vote, for its part, assures that it has made adjustments to the the observed dysfunctions during the first round, especially as regards the non-distribution of protocols by political parties. The many copies had to be filled in manually in the light of torches. It is a technically solved difficulty, assures Mathias Morouba, President of ANE, the interview of our correspondent in Bangui, Charlotte Cosset.
“We have improved the results that process documents. Eg. Are these documents carbon results. The result, which we must mention on the first sheet, stands out on the last sheet. Today, we have made sure that all candidates running at the end of the vote can have the results sheet in all polling stations. ”
Another problem raised by some observers. During the first round, the number of votes was surprisingly high at exceptions. The Constitutional Court had also annulled some of these votes in certain constituencies. “We issued a circular to specify the vote with exception. There has certainly been a lot of confusion here at some point over the use of the overridden voting record. But today things have been clarified. ”
The circular specifies that one must be a member of the security forces, delegated by candidates, officials or observers and be placed in his constituency in order to use the ballot for exemption.
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