CAR citizens vote in presidential run-off, legislative polls
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Electoral workers check voting material in the CAR capital city of Bangui on February 13, 2016. ©AFP
People in the Central African Republic (CAR) have started casting ballots in the second round of presidential elections as well as legislative polls in the hope of putting an end to years of violence in the impoverished country.
Anicet-Georges Dologuele and Faustin-Archange Touadera, former prime ministers, are contesting in the presidential run-off on Sunday, while over 1,500 candidates are running for 140 seats in the African country’s National Assembly.
The first round of presidential and parliamentary elections was held in December last year, with a turnout of nearly 80 percent.
In the initial presidential race, Dologuele and Touadera secured about 24 percent and 19 percent of the votes, respectively.
The constitutional court, however, annulled the results of the legislative polls, citing widespread irregularities, but the presidential results of the first round were validated.
The two presidential candidates have campaigned on promises of restoring security and unifying the country, which is currently being led by a transitional government.
“We expect our new president to disarm the fighters so we can go home,” said Emilienne Namsona, who lives in the M’poko displacement camp in the capital city of Bangui.
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