Mankeur Ndiaye told the UN Security Council that some regions are “fragile” and several applicants expressed doubts about last year’s peace agreement between the government and 14 armed groups.
Ndiaye said the presidential and legislative elections on December 27 took a position at a “crucial moment” and said central Africans had “the opportunity to take advantage of what has been achieved democratically and continue to stabilize the country. “
The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced fatal interreligious and intercommunal fighting since 2013, when Muslim-majority Seleka rebels took force in the capital, Bangui. Most anti-Balaka Christian militias retaliated and killed thousands of others. displacing thousands of other people.
The country experienced an era of relative peace in 2015 and 2016, but violence has intensified and spread since then, and since the signing of the peace agreement in February 2019, serious and intermittent incidents of violence and human rights violations have continued.
But Ndiaye said “significant progress has been made, i. e. in terms of political reform, state authority recovery, and transitional justice. “An electoral code followed and on 14 October the national election management authority published a computerized list of 1. 86 million people voted, 46% of whom are women, he said.
Smail Chergui, the Commissioner of the African Union for Peace and Security, said this represented 97% of the electoral population, but said the government had to explain its “insurmountable obstacles to the incorporation of refugees into elections. “There are 598,000 refugees from the Central African Republic, mainly in neighbouring countries.
France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas De Riviare, was cautious and said that the country “continues to face primary challenges” and “despite the reform of the electoral code, election preparation is delayed and this may jeopardize the holding of elections.
Regarding the challenges, in addition to the coronavirus pandemic, he warned that the humanitarian scenario is deteriorating, that food mistrust is widening and that human rights are being violated, that violations of children’s rights, sexual and gender-based violence and attacks on civilians, security forces and humanitarian and medical personnel are being violated, which come with “alarming” violations of children’s rights, sexual and gender-based violence and attacks on civilians, security forces and humanitarian and medical personnel Said.
Koen Vervaeke, Director-General of the European Union for Africa, suggested to the government of the Central African Republic and political actors “to do everything imaginable to achieve some transparency in the media”, expressing fear of the “disinformation campaign” during the election period. that the EU provided more than part of the budget for election preparation and experience.
Ndiaye, Chergui, De Riviare and Vervaeke, all under pressure on the importance of ensuring a free, fair, non-violent and transparent electoral procedure, and intensifying efforts to fully implement the 2019 peace agreement.
Ndiaye said there were 16 presidential candidates, adding 3 and the incumbent, Faustin-Archange Touadera.
“Some applicants already have the peace agreement and even propose renegotiating it if elected,” he said, and the main opposition coalition is questioning the legality of legislative reforms followed through the electoral code.
“However, tensions have not compromised our ability to hold elections according to the constitutional calendar,” Ndiaye said. “But we will have to do more to inspire all applicants to adhere to a code of conduct and ensure the calmness of the election. “
He said local elections, which have not been held since 1988, are scheduled for next year and are also “important for base democracy to take on local government positions. “
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