The Transitional President will be elected on Saturday, January 18, 2014.
The Central African Republic, CAR’s National Transitional Council, CNT or the transitional parliament, yesterday, January 15, 2014, fixed the conditions of eligibility for those intending to stand in next weekend’s election of the next Transitional President.
According to Radio France Internationale, RFI, the CNT came up with an initial list of 16 criteria for candidates for the position of Head of State to continue with the transition until elections expected in February 2015. These include being a CAR national and not having been sentenced for theft, fraud or abuse of trust. Also, they must be people who have never participated in a militia or armed rebellion in the last 20 years.
Observers say this criterion excludes, among others, officials and ministers of the current transitional government, as well as executive of CNT. The 134 members of the CNT are on Saturday, January 18, 2014, expected to elect the replacement for President Michel Djotodia who resigned on January 10, 2014. According to ‘Le Nouvel Observateur’ newspaper, the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS Mediator for CAR, Congo Brazzaville President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, is expected to oversee the poll.
Each candidate is to be given 10 minutes to present their manifesto before polling. All intending candidates are expected to submit their papers by 4 pm today, Thursday, January 16, 2014. Meanwhile, an electoral commission was expected to be set up yesterday. The commission will vet candidacies tomorrow, January 17, 2014, before publishing the list of those retained later in the afternoon.
The next Transitional President, explains Léa Koyassoum Doumta, the Deputy Speaker of CNT who is also a trade unionist and politician, must be someone who is able to unite the people, restore security, calm tensions, mobilize people to resume work and prepare the grounds for the holding of free, democratic and transparent elections. She adds that they must reassure former Séléka fighters and anti-Balaka militia men of their place in the new dispensation.
