Central African Republic President Touadéra wins re-election

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra has been reelected in the first round of the presidential vote held on December 27. He secured more than 53% of votes in the first round, according to provisional results announced by the electoral commission on Monday.

According to Mathias Morouba, president of the National Election Authority (ANE), “He won an “absolute majority” with 53.92% of votes.

However, the results must be officially validated by the Constitutional Court if there are possible appeals. Rebel groups had tried to disrupt the vote after former President Francois Bozize was barred from running. Morouba said about half of the country’s electorate, or around 910,000 people, had registered to vote and turnout among the registered voters was 76.3%.