2005 Central African general election

Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in the Central African Republic on March 13, 2005. The elections were initially scheduled for January 30, 2005,¹ but were subsequently delayed to February 13 by a decree of president François Bozizé in mid-December 2004. In late January 2005, they were delayed further by one month.² Bozizé, who seized power in March 2003, will be running in the presidential election as an independent candidate; he announced his candidacy on December 11, 2004, following a referendum on a new constitution on December 5, although he had previously stated he would not run:

After thinking thoroughly, and being deeply convinced and keeping in mind the nation's interest, I grasped the deep sense of my people's calls. As a citizen, I'll take my responsibility.

I'll contest the election to achieve the task of rebuilding the country, which is dear to me and according to your wish.¹

Candidate Fidèle Gouandjika, who had taken less than 1% of the vote in the 1999 presidential election, withdrew in favor of Bozizé on December 23. [1] On December 30, the Transitional Constitutional Court decided that all but five of the candidates—Bozizé, former president André Kolingba, vice-president Abel Goumba, lawyer Henri Pouzere, and former minister Auguste Boukanga—would be excluded from running for various reasons. Former president Ange-Félix Patassé, who served from 1993 until his ouster by Bozizé in 2003, was among those barred, which the court said was due to problems with his birth certificate; in rejecting the candidacy of former defense minister Jean-Jacques Démafouth, it also cited a problem with his birth certificate. [2]

The court's decision caused controversy, and although the chairman of the court, Marcel Malonga, reaffirmed the decision on state radio on January 3, 2005, Bozizé announced on January 4 that three of the disqualified candidates would be permitted to run: Jean-Paul Ngoupande (of the Parti de l'Unite Nationale), Martin Ziguele (an independent), and Charles Massi (of the Forum pour la Democratie et la Modernité).³ In this decision, he invoked presidential powers available to him according to the new constitution, citing Article 22.³ Later in the month, the restrictions on the candidates were relaxed further, when it was announced that only Patassé, who is under criminal investigation, would be barred from the race.¹

References

1. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), "Bozize to contest presidency as independent candidate", December 13, 2004.
2. IRIN, "Election postponed, but most banned candidates can now run", January 25, 2005.
3. IRIN, "Bozize repeals court ban on some presidential candidates", January 5, 2005.