History of The Central African Republic - Bozizé Coup

Bozizé Coup

On 15 March 2003 rebels who controlled part of the country moved into Bangui and installed their commander, General François Bozizé, as president, while President Patassé was out of the country. Bozizé has since been elected President in an election considered by observers to be fair and free.

Patasse has been found guilty of major crimes in Bangui and CAR has brought a case to the International Criminal Court against him and Jean Pierre Bemba from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo accusing them both of multiple crimes in suppressing one of the mutinies against Patasse. Civil tranquillity has yet to be established and parts of the country remain out of government control. The UN continues to maintain a peace building mission in Bangui.

Despite these shortcomings, and his promise to step down at the end of the transition, Bozizé contested the 13 March 2005 presidential elections in which all of the leading opposition candidates were allowed to run except for Patassé. Bozizé won on the second run-off round on 8 May 2005, defeating Martin Ziguélé, who ran on the ticket of the MLPC, the former ruling party. The National Elections Commission declared Bozizé the winner with 64.6 percent of the vote to 35.4 percent for Ziguélé. The election was generally considered to be fair, although the absence of Patassé cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the process.

On 8 May 2005, Bozizé gained yet a further victory when his coalition, Convergence Kwa Na Kwa, won 42 parliamentary seats in the legislative run-off vote. The MLPC came in second with 11 seats while the RDC won only eight seats. The remaining seats were won by independents or by smaller parties. In June later that year, the African Union (AU) lifted sanctions against the country, which had been applied after the 2003 coup.

In early 2006, Bozizé's government appeared stable. However, Patassé, who was living in exile in Togo, could not be ruled out as a leader of a future uprising. His supporters reportedly were joining or were prepared to join rebel movements in belief that their leader was still the rightful head of state of the country. Further, members of Kolingba's Yakoma tribe in the south posed a potential threat to Bozizé's government because of their widespread boycott of the second round of the legislative elections. Members of the Yakoma dominate the army.