Elections in the Central African Republic: the Constitutional Court rejects the postponement of the poll
Egyptian soldiers from Minusca, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic.
Yesterday Friday, three Burundian soldiers from Minusca were killed two days before a high-risk presidential and legislative poll.
AFP - ALEXIS HUGUET
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
On the eve of the presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic, fighting continues between the coalition of rebel groups and government forces.
This Friday, after the breaking of a ceasefire decreed unilaterally by the rebels, three peacekeepers from Burundi were killed in Doka, 250 kilometers north of Bangui by unidentified armed combatants.
Voices were raised to demand the postponement of the poll but this Saturday morning, the Constitutional Court rejected the opposition's final appeals to postpone these elections.
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with our special correspondent in Bangui,
Florence Morice
This time, there is no longer any alternative: the vote in the Central African Republic is maintained this Sunday.
The decision of the Constitutional Court was eagerly awaited.
She fell a little before 11:30 am.
Eight appeals had been lodged in total and the Court decided to consolidate them and therefore to dismiss them.
She argues that a postponement of the ballot would not meet the constitutional deadlines which provide that a new president must be elected by March 30 at the latest.
The Court considers that the current electoral calendar was made according to these constitutional deadlines and that the Constitution takes precedence above all.
The Court specifies that it will be time to examine these questions during the electoral dispute period, that is to say after the vote, in January.
This decision, however, does not close the debates.
At the end of the meeting, opinions were divided between power and opposition.
This decision is in any case in line with the statements hammered out in recent days by the international community, which, despite the significant security and logistical challenges that remain on the eve of this vote, have always pleaded for them to be maintained, costly. whatever the cost.
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See also
: Elections in the Central African Republic: end of the campaign punctuated by tensions and violence
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Central African Republic