Former Central African Republic PM leads in presidential vote

Former Central African Republic prime minister Faustin Archange Touadera took a narrow lead on in the initial results of the country’s presidential election.

Thirty candidates were competing in the presidential election, a major milestone in the transition to democracy after years of violence, while all National Assembly seats are being contested.

Results from the capital of Bangui given by the National Election Authority (ANE) said the voter turnout for the election was 72.18 percent.

“The distribution of results in Bangui gives us a total of: Dologuele Anicet-Georges: 28,162, Touadera Faustin-Archange: 30,999, Mandaba Jean-Michel: 2,097, Ziguele Martin: 9,946,” said ANE spokesperson Julius Rufin Ngoude-Baba.

United Nations peacekeepers patrolled the streets of Central African Republic throughout the day and positioned armoured personnel carriers at voting stations, after gunmen attacked voters in the capital and elsewhere during a referendum on the new constitution last month.

Authorities had repeatedly delayed the elections, not least due to violence in the capital Bangui in September, and some people doubt militia groups at the heart of the conflict will accept the result if it goes against them.

Mainly Muslim rebels from a group called the Seleka seized power in the majority Christian nation in early 2013, provoking reprisals from Christian anti-balaka militias.

Leaders have since fuelled a cycle of religious and inter-communal killings.

The Seleka withdrew from Bangui after their leader Michel Djotodia stepped down from the presidency in 2014 and the group’s factions have entrenched themselves in the northeast, leaving the country effectively partitioned.

About one million people from a population of 5 million have been driven from their homes by fighting and campaigns of ethnic and religious cleansing.

The election authority said it would rerun voting for the National Assembly in some areas because ballot papers failed to arrive. No date for the re-run was set.