The Central African Republic’s (CAR) election authority on Friday approved seven candidates to run in the country’s Dec. 28 presidential polls, including incumbent President Faustin-Archange Touadera.
Touadera, first elected in 2016, is seeking a third term — a move enabled by a 2023 constitutional amendment that removed previous term limits.
The National Election Authority confirmed that two of Touadera’s leading rivals, former Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra and opposition figure Anicet-Georges Dologuele, were also cleared to contest the race after concerns they could be disqualified under new nationality requirements.
Dologuele, who ran for president in 2020, renounced his French citizenship in August to comply with the rule — introduced in the 2023 constitution — that presidential candidates hold only one nationality. However, he was stripped of his Central African passport in mid-October, prompting him to file a complaint with the UN human rights office this week.
Three candidates barred
Election authority head Jean-Pierre Ouaboue said three applicants were rejected for failing to meet candidacy requirements.
In early October, a major opposition coalition — the Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution of March 2016 — announced it would boycott the polls, expressing distrust in the electoral process.
Around 2.3 million voters are expected to cast ballots on Dec. 28, when CAR will also hold parliamentary, municipal, and regional council elections.
The Central African Republic has experienced repeated conflict, military coups, and political instability since gaining independence from France in 1960.