New Central African leader pledges to ‘preserve peace’

BANGUI: Central African Republic’s new president Faustin-Archange Touadera on Wednesday pledged to “preserve peace” as he was sworn in after polls aimed at restoring stability following three years of turmoil.

Former maths teacher Touadera, 58, was the surprise winner of February’s presidential election, the first since the outbreak of a wave of inter-communal violence between Christian and Muslim militias that has killed thousands of people since 2013.
“I pledge to wholly respect the constitution ... and preserve peace,” he said, promising to “carry out my duties without any ethnic bias.”
The swearing-in ceremony at the main stadium in the capital Bangui was attended by leaders from nearby countries, including President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and Denis Sassou Nguesso from the Republic of Congo.
It marks the last stage of the political transition that began after the toppling of Christian former president Francois Bozize in 2013 by the predominantly Muslim “Seleka” rebel alliance.
After Bozize’s ouster, the former rebels ran amok, sacking villages in a wave of bloodletting that sparked fierce retaliatory attacks on minority Muslims by Christian-dominated militia.
The elections came after 93 percent of voters backed a constitutional referendum that cleared the way for the vote and also followed a visit by Pope Francis in November, his first to a war zone, during which he made an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation.
Touadera’s inauguration coincided with an announcement from France, Central Africa’s former colonial ruler, that it would end its military intervention in the mineral-rich but deeply poor nation this year.
France launched Operation Sangaris in December 2013, at the height of the violence that swept the country.
At the time Central African Republic “was in the throes of civil war, torn by religious tensions, plagued by chaos, on the brink of pre-genocidal scenarios,” French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday in Bangui.
“In the space of two years, the Sangaris force restored calm and prevented the unacceptable,” Le Drian said, announcing the end of the operation — which numbered 2,500 troops at its peak — “during the course of 2016.”
Le Drian admitted that the security situation was “not resolved” yet but said Central Africa was finally “emerging from a long period of trouble and uncertainty.”
Touadera, who served as prime minister between 2008-2013 under Bozize, faces enormous challenges on both the security and economy fronts.