There are 17 candidates running for the presidency, including the now-favorite incumbent, Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking re-election for a second term.
As reported by TASS with reference to the South African radio station SABC, voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections began on Sunday in the Central African Republic (CAR) in a tense atmosphere and in the face of the withdrawal of the rebel anti-government coalition from the ceasefire.
“Attempts by the opposition, supported by the rebel Coalition of Patriots for Change, to force the authorities to postpone the elections to a later date, have not been successful”, – she said. The Constitutional Court by its decision rejected the relevant claim on December 26, the statement says.
There are 17 candidates running for the presidency. Among them is the current head of state Faustin-Archange Touadera, considered a favorite, who is seeking re-election for a second term. His main rival is opposition leader and head of the Union for the Renewal of Central Africa party Anise-Georges Dologele. He is supported by former CAR president and head of the Coalition of Patriots for Change, François Bozizet. Bozize tried to register himself as a candidate in the presidential elections, but the Constitutional Court rejected his documents on the grounds that in March 2014, the CAR authorities issued an international arrest warrant against him for murder, arrest, abduction and torture.