Volatile Central Africa holds make-or-break vote

Two weeks after Pope Francis appealed to Muslims and Christians in the Central African Republic to live as "brothers and sisters", the volatile nation holds a referendum Sunday aimed at ending its bloody sectarian strife.

After more than two years of fighting that forced 10 percent of the population to flee the country, the December 13 vote on a new constitution is seen as a test run for presidential and parliamentary polls scheduled two weeks later.

But despite the presence of 11,000 UN and French peacekeepers, part of the impoverished country remains out of bounds, either under the control of rebel chieftains or bandits.

UN peacekeepers must escort convoys of trucks carrying voting slips that leave every day from Bangui for the interior, due to the volatile situation in parts of the country.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon appealed on the eve of the vote to ensure "that the referendum is conducted in a peaceful and credible manner" and called it a "significant milestone towards the end of the transition in the Central African Republic".
The widespread chaos has hampered organisation of the ballot by the country's interim authorities, with few election posters visible on the streets just hours beforehand.

More significantly, only 15,000 copies of the new constitution have been printed, meaning few voters are fully aware of its contents.

Almost two million Central Africans have registered to vote in a population of 4.8 million -- highlighting hopes the election will be the first step in a return to peace and normalcy.

But voter registration cards, printed in France, only arrived in Bangui on Wednesday, in time for the December 27 polls but too late for the referendum on Sunday.

Many of the 5,600 polling stations are located in remote areas accessible only by dirt roads.
The National Election Authority therefore decided to allow Central Africans to present only the receipts of their registration requests at polling booths, it said in a statement.

And of the 460,000 people living in camps across Central African Republic's borders -- many of them Muslims -- only 26 percent have been able to register.

In the volatile capital Bangui, which has been far quieter since the pope's bold 24-hour visit, peacekeepers are on edge. "Here things can blow up very quickly," said a security source who declined to be identified.

"The conditions are not right for an election," said Maxime Mokom, a leader of the Christian militia known as the "anti-balaka" set up to battle the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel force.

- 'Make-or-break' -

However, Mathieu Bile, who heads the UN mission in Central Africa's election department said the "simple fact that this vote can be held is very positive".

The pontiff had made an impassioned appeal for peace.
"Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters," Pope Francis said in a message.

The former French colony plunged into its worst crisis since independence after longtime Christian leader Francois Bozize was ousted by rebels from the Seleka force in March 2013, triggering a wave of violence with "anti-balaka" militias.

"Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself," the pope said.

But senior rebel figure Nourredine Adam has threatened to block elections in areas under his control.

His Patriotic Front for the Renaissance of Central Africa (FPRC), a splinter faction of the former Seleka rebel group that staged a coup in 2013, is staging an armed revolt in northern Kaga Bandoro.

"The elections might be difficult in Kaga Bandoro and one or two other places," said an EU diplomat, who added however that the stakes would be highest in the country's most densely populated regions in Bangui and the west.

The international community, which has been pouring aid into the country for over two years, is keen for the referendum as well as the follow-up elections to take place.

"These are make-or-break elections," said the International Crisis Group's Thierry Vircoulon.
Source: AFP