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Military Strongman Wins CAR Runoff

By JOSEPH BENAMSSE

Associated Press Writer

May 24, 2005, 9:59 AM EDT

BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Military strongman Francois Bozize won a
presidential runoff election in Central African Republic, a move toward
legitimizing his rule two years after he seized power in the impoverished,
coup-prone nation, according to final results announced Tuesday.

Bozize got 64.23 percent of the votes in a May 8 runoff, while former Prime
Minister Martin Ziguele, received 35.77 percent, according to Jean
Willibyro-Sacko, head of the national electoral commission in the capital of
Bangui.

Bozize, a one-time army general, seized power in March 2003 while former
President Ange-Felix Patasse traveled overseas. He had been favored to win
the runoff, which was called after an inconclusive first round of voting on
March 13.

"Presidential candidate Francois Bozize is declared president of the
republic," Sacko said.

Thousands poured on the streets of Bangui to celebrate after hearing the
results.

"We were expecting and hoping for that. We believe that the international
community will have more confidence in our country now that we have a
democratically elected president," Jean-Francois Bassole, a 40-year-old taxi
driver said, honking his horn as traffic came to a standstill.

"We had been following the results very closely.... We do hope that Bozize
will fulfill our aspirations and improve the country's sluggish economy,"
said Kadija Ba, a 39-year-old clothes vendor.

In the first round of voting, Bozize won about 43 percent support, while
Ziguele took 23 percent. Former military ruler Andre Kolingba, who claimed
the polling was fraudulent, earned 16 percent.

Since no one candidate won an outright majority, a runoff between the two
top vote-getters was called. About 1.5 million of the nation's 3.6 million
people were registered to vote.

Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Central African Republic has
weathered at least nine military revolts and uprisings, often launched by
disgruntled soldiers angered over poor pay -- or no pay at all.

While the landlocked nation that is slightly smaller than Texas is rich in
gold, diamonds and other minerals, its governments have been chronically
cash-poor and unable to meet payrolls of the military and civil servants.

Bozize toppled democratically elected Patasse, who now lives in exile in
Togo and was barred from running in the election. Ziguele served as
Patasse's prime minister.

Bozize has managed to keep the country relatively calm and set up a
transitional government of national unity that brought in some of his
opponents.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

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