The Central African Republic election authority said on Monday (December 28) that every effort was being made so that the presidential and legislative elections will go ahead as planned on Wednesday (December 30).
The country has slid into chaos since mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian country in early 2013. Abuses by the Selekas fuelled the rise of Christian militias who launched reprisals against Muslim civilians in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Thousands have died and nearly one in five of the 5 million Central Africans has fled the violence. The unrest also repeatedly delayed the polls.
While there are doubts over the authorities’ capacity to hold the polls, the election body said they were making every effort.
“The ballot papers have been reissued, and those ballots are supposed to arrive in Bangui today. Every effort is being made to deploy them to the relevant constituencies so the election can go ahead on December 30, 2015,” said election authority spokesperson, Julius Rufin Ngoude-Baba.
The authority said it had investigated media reports about fake voter cards being sold and concluded the allegations were not true.
For Martin Ziguele, leading presidential candidate and former Prime Minister from 2001 to 2003, the people have made it possible for the country to finally head to the polls.
“It is a miracle in itself that we’ve come so far today and this miracle is due to the will, a thousand times expressed, of the Central African people who absolutely want to go to the polls. The latest postponement is due to, as far as I know, the distribution of sensible material such as ballot papers, but I dare to believe it will be the last setback and that we will head to the polls on Wednesday.”
The United Nations has promised a heavy security presence on election day. But even if the polls go ahead without violence, critics argue the thorny issue of disarmament has simply been dumped in the lap of the future president.
Source: Reuters