Central African Republic Votes on New Constitution
- Nick Long
- Dec 13, 2015
- 2 min read
Voters queue outside a polling station in Bangui on December 13, 2015 to vote for the constitutional referendum, seen as a test run for presidential and parliamentary polls scheduled two weeks later aimed at ending two years of sectarian strife in the Central African Republic.
KINSHASA, D.R.C.—Voters in the Central African Republic are casting ballots Sunday in a referendum on a new constitution, as they seek an end to nearly three years of violence and division.
The process was disrupted in several parts of the capital, Bangui, where there were reports of gunfire and small clashes between opponents and supporters of the referendum. Some rebels have also threatened to disrupt the voting.
The new constitution calls for the creation of a Senate, limiting future presidents to two five-year terms in office, and safeguards for religious freedoms.
The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, has been scrambling to make Sunday’s constitutional referendum happen.
The vote is seen as a key test ahead of much-delayed presidential and parliamentary polls. Parts of the country, however, are still controlled by rebels who could disrupt voting.
MINUSCA chief Parfait Onanga Anyanga said Friday that the mission had flown more than 60 flights and transported about 100 tons of electoral materials to all the country’s 15 regional capitals in the past 48 hours.
The preparations were held up by delays in producing the constitution that Central Africans are supposed to vote on.
The C.A.R. researcher for Human Rights Watch, Lewis Mudge, told VOA his office received a copy of the 47-page document only two days ago.
"Most people who are going to be voting haven’t actually seen it," Mudge said. "Only 15,000 copies were printed and distributed around the country."
He added that there had been little effort to explain the proposed changes.
"There has been some outreach, but in general, outreach by the national electoral authority has been very poor," Mudge said.
Mudge said there is particular concern about vote disruption the Nana-Gribizi area, one of the country’s 15 prefectures, where armed group leader Nourredine Adam, former second-in-command of the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka group, has been saying the electoral process should not go ahead.
Elsewhere the ex-Seleka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka armed group could both intimidate voters.
The constitution is like to win voters' approval, allowing presidential elections to go ahead, Mudge said.
"There’s a large consensus that the referendum will pass, mostly because the government has gone on a 'vote yes' campaign. And if it does pass, I think the [presidential and parliamentary] vote is going to happen. Is it going to be successful? That depends on your definition of successful."
Two million voters have been registered, which is a record for the country. Still, with about a million of the 5 million population either in exile or displaced within the country, with only 35 percent of Muslim exiles who are eligible to vote actually registered, and with conflict continuing even in the capital, holding the referendum and the elections are big challenges.
Comments