President ready for talks with opposition

President Ange-Félix Patassé of the Central African Republic has said he would be ready to hold a national dialogue with representatives all sectors of society, including his political opponents, according to reports this week by diplomats based in the capital, Bangui. No date, however, has been set for such a conference. The diplomats said it was important that the talks are held because of growing concerns about violence, human rights violations and an economic crisis exacerbated by fuel shortages. Earlier this month, the country’s six opposition parties, citing government “incompetence”, reiterated calls for Patassé’s resignation, and the establishment of a government of national unity. The diplomats said they were concerned at “widespread rumours” of possible subversion by the armed forces. They said they also feared social unrest. “The fuel crisis could be a potential catalyst,” said a Bangui-based diplomat. “Likewise, the failure to pay salaries, pensions and ensure deliveries of key commodities are also factors that could lead to destabilisation through violence.” The reference to the fuel crisis stemmed from the fact that an agreement with Libya to provide 50,000 mt of oil products had not come to fruition because of transport problems and whether the distribution of the fuel would be managed by the office of the president or the national oil company, PETROCA. Economists said the issue had highlighted the privatisation debate in the country, drawing criticism of executive interference in the privatisation programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The government, in recent a letter to the IMF, has insisted that “significant” advances in privatisation are underway. The diplomats said they felt the two lending agencies should be “more sensitive” given the situation in the country and do more to help it get over what they called a “difficult” economic situation. The capital Bangui was described as tense, with growing incidents of crime, in which shops and banks have been subjected to hold-ups by bandits armed with automatic weapons. In an incident of unrest at the weekend, six students at the University of Bangui were injured, two of them seriously, in a clash with colleagues from another institution, the diplomats said. “With various political groups digging in their heels, tensions can only grow,” a diplomatic source said. “One hopes that a round-table conference organised by the head of state can bring concrete results and some truly consensual solutions - even if a unitary undertaking seems difficult to reach at this point in time.”