Cape Town, Jul. 30, (dpa/GNA) – The Central African Republic (CAR) was holding a controversial constitutional referendum on Sunday with voters called on to allow President Faustin-Archange Touadéra a third term in office.
The changes proposed would extend the presidential term to seven years from the current five and abolish the current two-term limit.
The opposition has called for a boycott, terming the referendum an “undemocratic swindle.”
Touadéra was elected president in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. The landlocked country of almost 6 million inhabitants has rich diamond and gold deposits.
Ahead of the referendum, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) non-governmental organization accused the CAR government of cracking down on the political opposition, civil society and the media.
Touadéra’s government is seen as close to Moscow. The Russian ambassador to the country, Alexander Bikantov, has said there are at least 1,890 Russian military advisers in the country, with Touadéra’s government “interested in increasing the number.”
The former French colony, which gained independence in 1960, has been unstable since a 2013 rebellion that ousted Francois Bozize, president at the time.
GNA