Central African Republic President Touadera wins 3rd term in office

Touadera got 76.15% of the vote in last month's elections, the results showed.

He was first elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020 with 53.16% of the vote in the first round.

The country’s 2023 constitutional referendum removed term limits and increased the term of office to seven, allowing Touadera to run for a third term.

The 68-year-old former mathematics professor campaigned on security gains, crediting alliances with Russian security contractors restructured from the Wagner Group and Rwandan troops for recapturing territory from rebels and signing recent peace deals. The partnerships have deepened Moscow's influence in the mineral-rich nation, with Russia gaining access to gold, diamonds, lithium and uranium.

Voting day was described as largely peaceful by international observers, including the African Union and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), despite ongoing insecurity in some eastern regions.

However, the main opposition coalition, the Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution (BRDC), boycotted the poll, calling it unfair.

Participating challengers, including opposition leader and former prime minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele and former prime minister Henri-Marie Dondra, accused authorities of campaign restrictions, such as blocking provincial travel.

The Constitutional Court has until Jan. 20 to validate the results or adjudicate any challenges. Opposition voices have raised fraud allegations, though no widespread post-election unrest has been reported so far. Touadera’s renewed mandate strengthens his rule in one of the world's poorest countries but highlights concerns over democratic backsliding and foreign influence amid a fragile peace.