Electoral commission lays out timetable

A new and democratically elected government will be installed by March 2005, according to the chairman of the country's electoral commission. The parliamentary and presidential election will take place in the Central African Republic (CAR) in early January 2005, said Jean Willibiro-Sako, the commission's chairman, at a news conference on Saturday in the capital, Bangui. A referendum on the country's proposed constitution is scheduled for 28 November, Willibiro-Sako said. The outcome will be announced 15 days later. The electoral process will then begin with voter registration, followed by a public information campaign, the distribution of electoral material and the election campaign period. He said the complete timetable would be distributed on Monday. Troops from the regional Monetary and Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) are to provide security during the elections together with troops from the CAR army, Willibiro-Sako said. So far there is only one candidate for the presidential elections. He is the former CAR president, Andre Kolingba, of the Rassemblement Democratique Centrafricain. The current leader of the CAR, Francois Bozize, who seized power in March 2003, said he would not run, although political groups have asked him to be a candidate.