Central African Republic: 'No question' of halting election process

The Central African Republic government said Tuesday there was "no question" of stopping the country's ongoing election process after 20 candidates vying for the presidency called for a halt.

The elections, for the presidency and 105-seat parliament, are seen as key to stabilising the country after three years of fierce sectarian conflict.

Partial results have been published from a first round, and a runoff ballot is scheduled for January 31.

"There is no question ... of halting the electoral process under way," Minister of Territorial Administration Modibo Bachir Walidou told reporters in the capital, Bangui.

On Monday, 20 of the 30 presidential candidates demanded the election be scrapped, saying the first round was tainted by irregularities and intimidation.

Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun on Tuesday called on candidates to "respect (their) commitment to the higher interests of the nation."

"The transitional authority and the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, France, the United States and China have all made considerable efforts to make sure these elections are free, democratic and credible," Kamoun said.

He called on Central Africans to show "calm, restraint, vigilance and not to give way to manipulation."

"For the moment, what we can say is that these elections went well," he added.

Former prime minister Faustin Archange Touadera was in the lead in the vote with a quarter of the ballots counted, partial results showed Sunday.

Touadera, a 58-year-old former maths professor who was prime minister under longtime leader Francois Bozize from 2008 to 2013, was considered an outsider in the field.

One of the world's poorest countries, with a history of coups and rebellions, Central African Republic was plunged into sectarian bloodshed in 2013 after Bozize was ousted by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance, bringing Michel Djotodia to power -- the country's first Muslim president.
Source: AFP