CAR President Touadera voting in the last election
Please pray for peace in CAR as elections loom on the horizon. The two most recent ex-presidents are now in the country. The eastern 2/3 of the country is still held by rebels, who entered in 2013 to oust one, Bozize, and put in the other, Ndjotodia.
Ex-presidents back in CAR ahead of polls Read more:
The unexpected return of 2 former presidents to the Central African Republic, the main figures in a civil war that still bloodies the country despite an 11-month-old peace accord, has set the stage for high-stakes political chess ahead of elections in December.
Francois Bozize, who is under an international arrest warrant for his role in the conflict, returned from exile in Uganda in mid-December — timing that would enable him to mount a presidential run under electoral rules.
Meanwhile the man who overthrew Bozize in 2013, Michel Djotodia, is also back in the country.
Even though Djotodia may also have his sights set on the presidency, current CAR president Touadera greeted him at the airport upon his arrival in Bangui on Friday.
Touadera, by allying himself with Djotodia, may be locking in support from his predecessor’s rebel group, which controls the northeast Ludovic MARIN, AFP/File
These machinations are potentially explosive in a country where fighting is still claiming lives despite a peace accord signed last February.
More than two-thirds of the former French colony is still under the control of armed rebel groups fighting over its rich mineral resources.
