Central African Republic-No Respite

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

No Respite

Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera emerged as the winner of the disputed Dec. 27 presidential elections amid an armed rebellion that engulfed the coup-prone nation last month, CNN reported Tuesday.

Provisional results this week show that Touadera secured more than 53 percent of votes in the first round, although voting did not take place in 29 of the country’s 71 sub-prefectures and thousands were prevented from casting ballots or never received their voting cards, France 24 reported.

The victory comes a day after armed rebels captured the southern city of Bangassou earlier this week.

Last month, a coalition of rebel groups that control two-thirds of the country launched an offensive, intending to disrupt the elections and “march to Bangui.”

The government and the UN have accused former President Francois Bozize of backing the armed groups after the constitutional court refused to allow him to challenge Touadera in the presidential vote.

Bozize’s party denies the allegations, but some party members have suggested they might be true.

So far, the rebels have been kept at bay by federal soldiers and UN peacekeepers, as well as Russian and Rwandan troops.

The resource-rich nation is one of the poorest in the world and has suffered coups and wars since its independence from France in 1960.