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By Antoine Rolland
BANGUI (Reuters) – The Central African Republic voted in presidential and legislative elections on Sunday under a cloud of violence as the government, international partners and the United Nations peacekeepers seek to stop a rebel advance.
Militias hostile to President Faustin-Archange Touadera, seeking a second term, have stepped up attacks since the constitutional court rejected several candidates this month, including former President Francois Bozize.
Touadera is considered the favorite in the field of 17 candidates. The election will proceed to a second round if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
Some polling stations in the capital opened with a slight delay amid tight security, after sporadic gunfire was heard overnight, a Reuters witness said.
Heavy gunfire was reported early Sunday morning in the town of Bouar, about 270 miles (435 kilometers) northwest of the capital, a resident said.
The crisis has exhausted many in the 4.7 million diamond and gold-rich nation, while raising fears of a return to the worst violence of its recent past, including five coups and numerous rebellions since independence. from France in 1960.
“For the last three days, I have had my children close by by my side,” said Israel Malongou, a businessman from the capital, Bangui. “I want the elections to end, whoever wins, so we can get back to our lives.”
Touadera was first elected in 2016 after a rebellion three years before he toppled Bozize. It has fought to wrest control of vast areas of the country from armed militias.
Successive waves of violence since 2013 have killed thousands and forced more than a million from their homes.
Touadera and the UN, which has more than 12,800 uniformed blue helmets in the Central African Republic, accused Bozize of being behind the rebel offensive, which briefly seized the country’s fourth-largest city last week and sparked a wave of army desertions. .
Bozize’s candidacy was rejected because he faces a UN arrest warrant and sanctions for allegedly ordering killings and torture while he was president. Bozize has denied those charges.
Touadera’s international security partners have responded to the latest violence by sending additional troops and equipment, including 300 Russian military instructors and 300 Rwandan peacekeepers.
(Reporting by Antoine Rolland in Bangui; written by Aaron Ross and Bate Felix; edited by Alexandra Hudson and Willliam Mallard)
