Central African Republic election what’s at stake?

Central African Republic Heads to Controversial Polls as Touadera Seeks Extended Rule

Citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) will head to the polls on Sunday in highly contentious presidential and legislative elections widely expected to extend President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s rule beyond two terms for the first time in the country’s history.

The vote follows a controversial 2023 referendum that scrapped presidential term limits and extended terms from five to seven years, clearing the way for Touadera, 68, to seek re-election. Opposition groups have strongly criticised the changes, with some boycotting the elections and branding the process a “sham”.

Touadera, who has been in power since 2016 and previously served as prime minister, is running under the ruling United Hearts Movement (MCU). He rose to international prominence in 2022 when CAR briefly adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, a move that was later abandoned amid criticism and low internet access.

The elections will also include parliamentary polls and, for the first time in nearly four decades, local government elections. The scale of the vote has raised concerns among observers and opposition figures about the preparedness of the National Elections Authority, which has cited funding, technical and organisational challenges.

About 2.3 million Central Africans aged 18 and above are registered to vote, including nearly 750,000 new voters since the 2020 elections. Polling will take place at roughly 6,700 stations nationwide, with past turnout averaging about 62 percent.

Several major opposition figures, including Anicet-Georges Dologuele and former prime minister Henri-Marie Dondra, were cleared to run, but delays in approving their candidacies fuelled claims that the process favoured the incumbent. An opposition coalition, the Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution (BRDC), has opted to boycott the vote entirely.

CAR has endured decades of political instability since independence from France in 1960, compounded by a civil conflict that erupted in 2013 between Seleka rebels and Anti-balaka militias, displacing about one million people. Despite vast natural resources, including gold, diamonds and uranium, the country remains among Africa’s poorest.

Touadera has campaigned on promises of peace, security and infrastructure development, pointing to relative stability achieved with the backing of UN peacekeepers, Rwandan troops and Russian security contractors. His growing ties with Russia have strained relations with France, which scaled back military cooperation and aid in 2021.

Critics accuse Touadera’s administration of suppressing dissent and manipulating electoral processes, allegations the government denies. Supporters, however, credit him with improving security and infrastructure in a fragile state.