Central African Republic: Touadera secures third term

Central African Republic'sPresident Faustin Archange Touadera won a third term in last month's election, provisional results showed.

The result, released by the electoral authority late Monday, said Touadera secured 76.15% of the vote, with the voter turnout at around 52%.

Touadera's primary challengers, Anicet Georges Dologuele and Henri-Marie Dondra, both former prime ministers, received 15%, and about 3% of the vote, respectively.

The 68-year-old mathematician came into power a decade ago, and had been widely expected to win after the main opposition coalition boycotted the poll, denouncing what it called an unequal political environment after a 2023 referendum removed presidential term limits.

Dologuele and Dondra alleged widespread irregularities and called for the results to be annulled. Dologuele said on Friday that there had been "a methodical attempt to manipulate" the electoral outcome.

While the government has denied the claims, Touadera's allies had unsuccessfully tried to have Dologuele and Dondra disqualified for allegedly holding foreign citizenship.

The Constitutional Court has until January 20 to rule on any appeals and announce final results.

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Security has been a central theme in Touadera's tenure and campaign. During his decade in office, the president has relied on Russian mercenaries and Rwandan soldiers for security support.

Central African Republic (CAR) was the first country in West and Central Africa to bring in Russia's Wagner mercenaries in 2018.

During this year's electoral campaign, mercenaries were deployed alongside the police and army in the streets of the capital, Bangui.

"Take a look at the situation in 2016 when I took office. There was no state authority throughout the country. You couldn't go out without an escort," he said, adding: "Our defense forces were completely non-existent. Today, we see a country that is gradually recovering, that is raising its head."

CAR remains one of the poorest countries in the world, and the government faces pressure to deliver economic reforms.