Central African Republic: CAR Electoral Marathon 'Imposed By Foreigners'
Central African Republic: CAR Electoral Marathon 'Imposed By Foreigners'
allAfrica.com, 07 Jul 2015
URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/201507061941.html
By Ephrem Rugiririza
The Central African Republic, which has had no less than three presidents since 2013, says it wants to emerge from a long and bloody transition by holding legitimate elections. Although already twice postponed, a new elections calendar was published on June 19.
The calendar provides for a voter census from June 27 to July 27, followed by a constitutional referendum on October 4 and a presidential and legislative election process from October 18 to November 22.
But this calendar looks like an over-ambitious marathon in a country wracked by civil conflict, propped up by the international community, where some regions are still under the control of armed rebel groups. The rainy season should also not be forgotten, since it is likely to complicate things both for voters and the officers of the electoral commission. Many Central Africans think this calendar is unrealistic and imposed by France, whose voice is being less and less listened to in its former colonies such as the CAR.
In an interview less than a week before the publication of the new electoral calendar Auguste Boukanga, president of the Union for Renaissance and Development (URD), told Radio Ndeke Luka that the interim government is "putting the cart before the horse".
"Before even carrying out a voter census, identifying places for election bureaux and deciding the electoral map, they are hurrying to have a referendum in October, the first round of presidential and legislative elections also in October and the second round in November," he said.
The URD president said he thinks the calendar has been imposed from outside. At the Bangui Forum from May 4 to 11, he reminds us, "the URD proposed a framework for elections to take place in the dry season, between November 15, 2015 and May 15, 2016, so that Central Africans can participate massively. The rainy season is not good for elections in the CAR. Things are happening as if it's a foreign demand and not an initiative coming from Central Africans."
"No to France!"
The Bangui Forum called for polls to be postponed until conditions were right, but former colonial power France said during President Catherine Samba-Panza's visit to Paris on May 27 that it would like to see elections before the end of the year. France, whose army is already engaged in a costly anti-terrorism operation in the Sahel (operation Barkhane), would no doubt like to cut the number of its troops in the Sangaris force in the CAR as quickly as possible. According to observers, France is not drawing any political gain from its costly support to Bangui.
The Central African Republic, which has had no less than three presidents since 2013, says it wants to emerge from a long and bloody transition by holding legitimate elections. Although already twice postponed, a new elections calendar was published on June 19.
The calendar provides for a voter census from June 27 to July 27, followed by a constitutional referendum on October 4 and a presidential and legislative election process from October 18 to November 22.
But this calendar looks like an over-ambitious marathon in a country wracked by civil conflict, propped up by the international community, where some regions are still under the control of armed rebel groups. The rainy season should also not be forgotten, since it is likely to complicate things both for voters and the officers of the electoral commission. Many Central Africans think this calendar is unrealistic and imposed by France, whose voice is being less and less listened to in its former colonies such as the CAR.
In an interview less than a week before the publication of the new electoral calendar Auguste Boukanga, president of the Union for Renaissance and Development (URD), told Radio Ndeke Luka that the interim government is "putting the cart before the horse".
"Before even carrying out a voter census, identifying places for election bureaux and deciding the electoral map, they are hurrying to have a referendum in October, the first round of presidential and legislative elections also in October and the second round in November," he said.
The URD president said he thinks the calendar has been imposed from outside. At the Bangui Forum from May 4 to 11, he reminds us, "the URD proposed a framework for elections to take place in the dry season, between November 15, 2015 and May 15, 2016, so that Central Africans can participate massively. The rainy season is not good for elections in the CAR. Things are happening as if it's a foreign demand and not an initiative coming from Central Africans."
"No to France!"
The Bangui Forum called for polls to be postponed until conditions were right, but former colonial power France said during President Catherine Samba-Panza's visit to Paris on May 27 that it would like to see elections before the end of the year. France, whose army is already engaged in a costly anti-terrorism operation in the Sahel (operation Barkhane), would no doubt like to cut the number of its troops in the Sangaris force in the CAR as quickly as possible. According to observers, France is not drawing any political gain from its costly support to Bangui.