Central African Republic elections postponed by three days

“We want to organise it (elections) successfully, make sure that these elections are transparent, credible, and democratic,” said Central African Republic Prime Minister, Mahamat Kamoun.

The polls are meant to restore democratic rule after mainly Muslim rebels seized power in the majority Christian nation in early 2013, provoking reprisals from Christian militias that triggered a cycle of inter-religious killings.

Kamoun said the postponement was needed because poll workers still needed to receive training after noticing some problems during the December 13 referendum.

“We noticed during the referendum that most election workers did not have proper knowledge, so we witnessed a growing number of wrongly written reports which contributed to the cancellation of many votes. So we absolutely need to organise training, find the right people especially because the stakes of these elections are important compared to the referendum,” he added.

Delays of ballot boxes delivery was also pointed as one of the reasons for the delay.

“You know, it needs to be done with sophisticated materials, reflective and more to avoid fraud. All of this has been ordered from outside, there were flight problems, freights and so on, and today everything is already in Bangui,” he said.

Elections in the former French colony have faced repeated delays. Central African Republic is currently governed by a transitional administration, the second such interim government since President Francois Bozize was toppled in March 2013.

Around one in five Central Africans has fled violence in the country which is rich in diamonds, uranium and gold, about half of them leaving the country altogether. The fighting began as clashes between rival militias degenerated into a conflict between Christians and Muslims that has led to de facto partition.