Central African Republic’s Touadera wins third presidential term | Election news

Provisional results show that Faustin-Archange Touadera received 76.15 percent of the votes in the December 28 elections.

Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadera won a third term, obtaining an absolute majority in the December 28 presidential election, according to provisional results.

Results announced Monday showed Touadera received 76.15 percent of the vote, while former Prime Minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele received 14.66 percent and former Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra 3.19 percent.

Voter turnout was 52.42 percent.

Touadera, a 68-year-old mathematician who took power a decade ago, was seeking a third term after a constitutional referendum in 2023 removed presidential term limits.

He campaigned on his security record in the chronically unstable country after seeking help from Russian mercenaries and Rwandan soldiers. He also signed peace deals with several rebel groups this year.

The main opposition coalition, known by its French acronym BRDC, boycotted the elections, saying they would not be fair.

Even before the results were announced, Dologuele and Dondra had questioned their credibility, calling separate press conferences to denounce what they called electoral fraud.

Dologuele, a runner-up in the 2020 elections, told a news conference Friday that there had been “a methodical attempt to manipulate” the result.

“The Central African people spoke on December 28,” Dologuele said. “They expressed a clear desire for change.”

Touadera’s government has denied any fraud.

The Constitutional Court has until January 20 to rule on possible challenges and declare the final results.