2005 Central African general election: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:20, 4 February 2005

Revision as of 00:26, 4 February 2005

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In [[November 2004]], former president [[Ange-Félix Patassé]], who served from 1993 until his ouster by Bozizé in 2003 and presently lives in exile in [[Togo]], was nominated as the presidential candidate of his party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain, MLPC).<small>^{[[#References|4]]}</small> In December, former prime minister and current vice-president [[Abel Goumba]], as well as lawyer [[Henri Pouzère]], submitted applications to run.<small>^{[[#References|5]]}</small>

On [[December 30]], the Transitionaltransitional Constitutionalconstitutional Courtcourt decided that all but five candidates&mdash;Bozizé, former president [[André Kolingba]], Abel Goumba, Henri Pouzère, and former minister Auguste Boukanga&mdash;would be excluded from running for various reasons. Patassé was among the seven who were barred, which the court said was due to problems with his [[birth certificate]], as well as with his land title.<small>^{[[#References|6]]}</small> In rejecting the candidacy of the former defense minister [[Jean-Jacques Démafouth]], it said that there was a conflict between the date of birth given on his birth certificate (October 3, 1950) and that given in his declaration of candidacy and criminal record (October 3, 1959). [http://www.tchadforum.com/?page=article_item&aid=607] The other candidates who were rejected were former prime minister [[Martin Ziguélé]], former Prime Minister Jean-Paul Ngoupandé (of the Parti de l'Unite Nationale), Charles Massi (of the Forum pour la Democratie et la Modernité), Olivier Gabirault, and Pasteur Josué Binoua.<small>^{[[#References|6]]}</small>

Prior to the court's decision, three of the 15 initial candidates had already withdrawn from the race, leaving only 12 candidacies to judge. Fidèle Gouandjika, who took less than 1% of the vote in the [[1999]] presidential election, [http://africanelections.tripod.com/cf.html] withdrew in favor of Bozizé about a week before the decision. [http://www.africatime.com/Centrafrique/nouvelle.asp?no_nouvelle=164388&no_categorie=PRESSE] Joseph Bendounga, a former mayor of the capital, [[Bangui]], also withdrew, along with Enoch Dérant-Lakoué,<small>^{[[#References|6]]}</small> who took a little more than 1% in the 1999 election. [http://africanelections.tripod.com/cf.html]

The court's decision caused controversy, and therewas werefollowed by demands for the courtannulment toof bethe dissolveddecision and the dissolution of the court. Although the chairman of the court, Marcel Malonga, reaffirmed the decision on state radio on [[January 3]], 2005, Bozizé made a conciliatory gesture on [[January 4]] by announcing that three of the disqualified candidates would be permitted to run: Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Martin Ziguélé, and Charles Massi. In this decision, he invoked presidential powers available to him according to the new constitution, citing Article 22.<small>^{[[#References|7]]}</small> At the same time, however, he maintained the exclusion of the remaining four candidates, and there was little doubt that he was referring to Patassé when he said that he thought candidates who were "the subject of judicial proceedings, for violent and economic crimes, should be permanently rejected".<small>^{[[#References|8]]}</small> This did not resolve the dispute, however, and the three he approved refused to accept his validation of their candidacies, accusing Bozizé of trying to divide the opposition. All seven of the initially barred candidates continued to demand the dissolution of the court and also put forward a request for the invalidation of Bozizé's own candidacy.<small>^{[[#References|8]]}</small>

On [[January 22]], the controversy was effectively resolved through the signing of the [[Libreville]] Agreement, mediated by [[Gabon]]ese president [[Omar Bongo]], which allowed all the candidates except Patassé to participate and brought the total number of candidates to 11.<small>^{[[#References|2]]}</small> The date of the election was also delayed to March 13, and it was agreed that the constitutional court would not be dissolved, but that its power regarding the election would be transferred to the independent election committee.<small>^{[[#References|9]]}</small> Subsequently, although Patassé rejected the agreement&mdash;saying that he had not authorized Luc Apollinaire Dondon, the first vice-president of the MPLC, to sign it&mdash;the MLPC announced that it would support the candidacy of Ziguélé,<small>^{[[#References|10]]}</small> who was Patassé's last prime minister prior to his ouster and who had previously been running as an independent. [http://www.afriquecentrale.info/fr/news/news.asp?rubID=1&srubID=4&themeID=1&newsID=1795]