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A referendum on the Central African Republic's (CAR’s) constitution will now be held on 5 December and not 28 November, as initially planned, an official told IRIN on Thursday.
The postponement would give the Mixed Electoral Commission, known as CEMI, time to prepare for the vote, its chairman, Jean Wilibiro-Sacko, said.
The minister in charge of the government's secretariat general, Zarambaud Assingambi, told IRIN the postponement followed a request by his Interior Ministry counterpart to a cabinet meeting on Friday.
"The president [of the republic] has to approve the proposal," he added.
The government approved the commission's budget of US $10.8 million, in August 2004, although this amount has not been raised in full.
The country's law advisory body, the National Transitional Council, adopted a bill on the constitution in July and President Françoise Bozize approved it in August.
Under the CAR transitional calendar, the referendum will be followed by presidential and legislative elections on 30 January and 27 February 2005, respectively, marking an end to the transition Bozize installed after seizing power in a coup on 15 March 2003.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
