Protests are boiling in the Central African Republic (CAR) as the country prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections this coming Sunday, with the authorities blaming the unrest on ex-President Francois Bozize, who was denied the right to run in the vote
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2020) Protests are boiling in the Central African Republic (CAR) as the country prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections this coming Sunday, with the authorities blaming the unrest on ex-President Francois Bozize, who was denied the right to run in the vote.
The car is a landlocked, underpopulated country in the very heart of the African continent, neighboring Cameroon, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Sudan. After proclaiming independence from France in 1960, the country experienced several coups and eventually plunged into a civil war in the early 2000, which resulted in Bozize coming to power in 2003.
Bozize ruled until toppled in 2013, when the CAR capital of Bangui was taken over by rebels and became a battlefield between a former Islamist movement known as Seleka and their Christian-majority antagonists, known as Anti-Balaka. The armed conflict resulted in over 6,000 casualties and prompted the flight of an approximate 1 million people, according to the United Nations. In 2014, the UN deployed a peacekeeping force, MINUSCA, to ensure the protection of civilians in the conflict zone.
In February 2019, CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera and leaders of 14 rebel groups signed a peace agreement, consenting to arrange for an inclusive general election in a bid to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. The government also committed to ensure the freedom of organizing political parties and movements, as well as facilitate the return of refugees.
Last Saturday, after three key rebel groups decided to form an anti-government coalition to run in the elections, CAR authorities accused Bozize of plotting a coup. Sputnik learned from MINUSCA spokesman Vladimir Monteiro that the political situation in the country became tense as Bozize and the armed groups appeared to be seeking to disrupt the vote.
Foreign embassies in the CAR are working to help make the elections happen, Russian Ambassador in Bangui Vladimir Titorenko told Sputnik. He said there was no attempt of a coup per se as rebels had failed to enter the capital, but Bozize in the meantime frequented meeting with rebel leaders and stirring up the population to a mutiny. The Russian diplomat believes that the purpose of these activities is to intimidate the people so that they simply do not show up at the polling stations, in which case the electoral process can later be denounced void due to a low turnout.
According to Titorenko, a group of foreign embassies, including those of France and the United States, issued a joint statement calling on Bozize to stop inciting violence and try to disrupt the elections.
The Russian ambassador said the situation in Bangui remained relatively stable, unlike in areas far from the capital not completely under the control of central CAR authorities, as per the Khartoum agreement. At the same time, the diplomat said there were no known cases of active military confrontation in the country at the moment.
The reason Bozize was not allowed to run in the elections was that he failed to provide evidence that he had resided in the CAR for at least one year before the vote. The ex-president fled the country in 2013 and was indicted by the UN Security Council for war crimes against own people, according to Titorenko.
After a period of exile in neighboring countries, Bozize supposedly returned to the CAR's northwest, under the control of loyal rebels, and led a rally of supporters including armed militia on to Bangui. The ex-president's party has denied that he was planning a coup, however. CAR opposition, in the meantime, has called for a postponement of the election until "the peace and security are restored."
On Monday, Rwanda deployed troops to the CAR under a bilateral defense treaty and in response to attacks against Rwandan peacekeepers within MINUSCA. The Rwandan military was also tasked with preventing any disruptions to the election.
Some media reported that Russia, too, deployed troops to the CAR, but Titorenko refuted this in a comment to Sputnik. According to the Russian ambassador, the Russian presence in the CAR is limited to five Defense Ministry employees, army instructors who had arrived at the request of the CAR government, and 14 peacekeepers within MINUSCA.
In a comment to Sputnik earlier on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov explained that the presence of the Russian Defense Ministry representatives in the CAR is of political nature, rather than military, as they are not engaged in any military action. Bogdanov stressed that Moscow remained committed to all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and was seriously concerned about the attempts to undermine CAR elections.
