Electoral process under way

The electoral process in the Central African Republic (CAR) got underway on Friday, with the country's law advisory body, the National Transitional Council, beginning a session due to last until 31 March. During this period it is expected to approve bills that would facilitate the establishment of electoral organs. In a speech inaugurating the session, council Speaker Nicolas Tiangaye said the law advisory body would examine a bill instituting a joint independent electoral commission, which would oversee presidential and parliamentary elections as well as announce the poll results. The elections are due to be held late 2004 and in early 2005. According to a final electoral calendar that the government released in January, the Commission Electorale Mixte Independante was due to be set up in January or February. Tiangaye said that the council would also examine a draft of the country's constitution to be presented at a referendum planned for October-November. The new constitution would replace the one enacted in 1995 that Francois Bozize abrogated when he seized power on 15 March 2003, at the end of a six-month armed rebellion. The council is also due to examine the electoral code and laws governing political parties as well as local administrative structures. "Of all the bills to be examined, none has been presented to the council's board yet," Tiangaye said. He urged the government present the bills this week. The council's session marks the beginning of the country's electoral process leading up to general elections. The elections would end the transitional administration that Bozize set up when he overthrew President Ange-Felix Patasse in 2003. Bozize has said he would not contest the presidency. The government has said that municipal elections, which were scheduled for November, would only take place if the country’s financial situation improves. Besides the electoral issues, Tiangaye added, the council would adopt the country's 2004 budget and examine the ratification of a treaty instituting the African Economic Community and the Pan-African Parliament. The 2004 budget was not adopted during the council's November-December session in 2003 because the government was awaiting an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that recommended anti-corruption measures, a cut in government expenditure, a hiring freeze into the civil service and the removal of roadblocks in the provinces. "My worries are big as the draft of the 2004 budget is taking too much time to come [to the council]," Tiangaye said. Tiangaye also urged the international community to help the government fight insecurity, which has spread to the previously calm southern part of the country. He said armed highway robbers were responsible for insecurity in areas near Bangui and in "almost all the provinces". "The CEMAC [Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States] backed by French troops and the CAR armed forces need just additional means to fight those enemies of the nation," Tiangaye said.