Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won a third term in office, securing an outright majority in the presidential election held on Dec. 28, provisional results from the electoral commission showed on Monday.
The 68-year-old mathematician who took power a decade ago was seeking a third term after a constitutional referendum in 2023 scrapped the presidential term limit.
He campaigned on his security record in the chronically unstable nation after enlisting help from Russian mercenaries and Rwandan soldiers.
He also signed peace deals with several rebel groups this year.
The results announced on Monday night by Mathias Morouba, the country’s top election official, showed Touadera received 76.15 per cent of the vote, while former prime minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele received 14.66 per cent, and former prime minister Henri-Marie Dondra received 3.19 per cent.
Voter turnout was 52.42 per cent, Morouba said.
The main opposition coalition, known by its French acronym BRDC, boycotted the election, saying it would not be fair.
Even before the results were announced, Dologuele and Dondra had cast doubt on their credibility, calling separate news conferences to denounce what they described as election fraud.
Dologuele, the runner-up in the 2020 election, told a news conference on Friday that there had been “a methodical attempt to manipulate” the outcome.
The Central African people spoke on Dec. 28,” Dologuele said. “They expressed a clear desire for change.”
Touadera’s government has denied any fraud took place.
The Constitutional Court has until Jan. 20 to adjudicate any challenges and declare definitive results.
Touadera’s victory will likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds.
However, Touadera has also signalled a renewed interest in Western partnerships, saying he would welcome any country willing to develop CAR’s lithium, uranium, and gold reserves.
Opposition groups have said the 2023 referendum that allowed him to extend his rule into a second decade was proof he wants to be president for life.
There were no reports of major disturbances during the voting on Dec. 28, a far cry from the last election in 2020, when rebel groups prevented hundreds of polling stations from opening.
In spite of all that, analysts warn that Touadera’s security gains remain fragile.
“Armed groups have not disappeared. They have just been incorporated into the system,” said Nathalia Dukhan, Central Africa analyst for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Some leaders of armed groups have received government jobs after signing peace deals with Touadera, Dukhan said.
“But if they see that the system is not serving their interest, things could take a dramatic turn,” she added.
Touadera’s control over state institutions and superior financial resources made him the favourite ahead of voting. (Reuters/NAN)
