BANGUI: Polls have started in the Central African Republic on Sunday for a constitutional referendum that would enable President Faustin-Archange Touadera to seek a third tenure.
Voting was scheduled to start at 6:00 a.m. (local time) but polling stations opened around one hour late. Voting is due to close at 4:00 p.m.
Nearly 1.9 million people are eligible to cast vote in the country of 5.5 million people. Some media outlets reported a meager turnout in the capital Bangui hours after the voting started.
Provisional results are not likely for eight days, while the constitutional court would publish the definitive results on 27 August, according to the national electoral body.
Security forces from Russia — including the Wagner Group — and Rwanda have been brought in to oversee the polls, which has been mired in controversy.
Vote to bring changes
The referendum would abolish the 2-term limit for presidents in the country. It would also extend the tenure from 5 years to 7 years. Touadera’s 2 years in office would be reset to zero.
Opposition parties and other critics claim these changes would entrench the power of the president.
On Wednesday, the Union for Central African Renewal (UCAR) party demanded from voters to boycott the referendum. Former Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye said that Touadera wants to become an emperor, and he wants to make Central African Republic what he wants, not what the people want.
Touadera was first elected to the office in 2016 during a civil war where 80 per cent of the country was not under state control. He claimed reelection in 2020.
The president made global headlines last year after making Bitcoin an official currency of the country. He also served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 under then-President Francois Bozize.
