President Faustin-Archange Touadera has secured a third term in office after provisional results showed him winning an outright majority in the Central African Republic’s presidential election held on December 28.
Results announced on Monday gave Touadera 76.15 percent of the vote. Former Prime Minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele came second with 14.66 percent, while another former prime minister, Henri-Marie Dondra, placed third with 3.19 percent.
Voter turnout was reported at 52.42 percent.
Touadera, a 68-year-old former mathematics professor who first took power a decade ago, was able to seek a third term after a 2023 constitutional referendum removed presidential term limits.
He campaigned heavily on his security record in the chronically unstable country, pointing to relative gains made with the support of Russian mercenaries and Rwandan troops, as well as peace agreements signed this year with several armed groups.
The main opposition coalition, known by its French acronym BRDC, boycotted the election, arguing that the vote would not be free or fair.
Even before the provisional results were released, both Dologuele and Dondra publicly questioned their credibility. Each held separate news conferences accusing authorities of election fraud.
Dologuele, who also finished second in the 2020 presidential race, said on Friday that there had been “a methodical attempt to manipulate” the outcome.
“The Central African people spoke on December 28,” he said. “They expressed a clear desire for change.”
Touadera’s government has rejected allegations of fraud, insisting the vote was conducted transparently.
The country’s Constitutional Court has until January 20 to review any legal challenges and certify the final results.
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