BANGUI : A Real Contest at Last
The military ruler and the politician he ousted are among nine men who have registered to contest the Central African Republic’s presidential elections.
Multi-party elections, scheduled for Sunday, have been delayed three times since October, 1992. Elections that month, in which President Andre-Dieudonne Kolingba was declared the winner, were annulled by the country’s Supreme Court, which cited “cheating, intimidation and acts of aggression.”
Kolingba is the candidate of the Democratic Central African Assembly, formerly the only legal party. Among his rivals is David Dacko, whom he overthrew in a bloodless coup in 1981. Prime Minister Enoch Derant Lakoue is also running.
The other candidates include dissidents and current and former Cabinet members.
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