Presidential, Legislative Elections Kick off in C. Africa
Local Editor
People in the Central African Republic [CAR] started voting in much-delayed elections in the hope of putting an end to years of violence in the country.
Polling stations for the presidential and parliamentary votes opened on Wednesday. Thirty candidates, including former prime ministers, Anicet-Georges Dologuele and Martin Ziguele, are running for presidency.
Relatively, the elections were postponed four times since February 2015 due to insecurity and logistical challenges.
In the context, the United Nations' Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called in a Tuesday statement for calm and credible elections in the African country.
He further urged "all national stakeholders to commit themselves to ensuring that the elections are conducted in a peaceful and credible manner."
The country has been convulsed by turmoil since 2013, when anti-balaka militiamen launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March that year. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the conflict.
In December that year, France deployed troops to Central Africa, a former French colony, after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead for the troop deployment, though the measure failed to end violence in the country.
According to the UN's latest estimates, the conflict in the CAR has internally displaced some 400,000 people and forced more than 460,000 to flee to neighboring countries.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
