BANGUI, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Central African Republic’s Constitutional Court on Monday validated President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s victory in a disputed December 28 presidential election that handed him a third term.
Even before provisional results were announced on January 5, Touadera’s opponents had alleged fraud but the government denied that.
“On behalf of the Central African people, the Constitutional Court declares Faustin Archange Touadera president-elect in the first round with 77.9% of the vote,” President of the Constitutional Council Jean-Pierre Waboe said.
Touadera’s main rival, former Prime Minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele, received 13.5% of the vote, final results from the electoral commission showed.
The Constitutional Court said it rejected an appeal that Dologuele had lodged after the announcement of provisional results.
Another competitor, former Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra who got 2.97% of the vote, last week acknowledged Touadera’s victory and said he decided not to appeal.
“I made this decision to preserve peace and avoid reigniting tensions. I call on the president-elect to take the necessary measures to reconcile the Central African people and organize a genuine dialogue to ease political tensions in the country,” Dondra told Reuters.
Touadera, a 68-year-old mathematician who took power a decade ago, campaigned on his security record in the chronically unstable nation.
His victory will likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds.
(Reporting by Pacome Pabandji; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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