A group of 20 opposition parties and civil society associations formed a coalition this Friday in the Central African Republic (CAR) to prevent President Faustin-Archange Touadéra from amending the Constitution and running for a third term.
A group of opposition political parties and civil associations formed a coalition this Friday in Bangui to prevent President Touadéra from modifying the Constitution and seeking a third term, according to the France-Presse news agency (AFP).
We created a republican bloc to defend the Constitution,” said lawyer Crépin Mboli, who launched the BDRC coalition and leads the opposition political party Patrie.
In statements quoted by AFP, he explained that the manifesto converges on the objective of the 20 parties and civil organizations that signed it: “Defend the Constitution of March 30, 2016 and defeat the danger of an authoritarian presidency for life.”
Touadéra was re-elected at the end of December 2020, with 53.16% of the vote in a controversial election, with less than a third of voters can go to the polls due to insecurity that has been unleashed in the country since the 2013 civil war.
At the time of the elections, several armed groups that controlled two-thirds of the country had launched an offensive to overthrow the president, but the head of state appealed to Moscow, which sent hundreds of Russian paramilitaries who were deployed to the Central African Republic. , joining them, join the hundreds of people who have been in the country since 2018 to fight against the rebels.
The CAR was plunged into chaos and violence in 2013, following the ouster of former president François Bozizé by armed groups gathered in Séléka, sparking opposition from other militias, grouped under the anti-Balaka designation.
Since then, the Central African territory has been the scene of community clashes between these groups, which have forced almost a quarter of the 4.7 million inhabitants of the CAR to leave their homes.
Currently, according to the data made available by the General Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces on its official website, 193 Portuguese soldiers are committed to the CAR within the scope of the UN mission in that country (Minusca) and 45 media .
Also in RCA, but within the scope of the European Union training mission (EUTM-RCA), 21 military personnel are currently engaged.
MINUSCA aims to “support the international community in the reform of the State security sector, contributing to the security and stabilization” of the Central African Republic, the EMGFA also reports.
Source: Observadora
