Voters in Central African Republic (CAR) approved a new constitution, paving the way for the troubled country's legislative and presidential elections on Dec. 27.
Some 93 percent of those taking part in the referendum this month voted in favor of replacing the transitional charter that currently governs the former French colony, the National Election Authority said late on Monday. Despite some irregularities the vote went well, the authority's president Marie Madeleine N'kouet said. Around one-quarter of CAR's 4.7-million population has been displaced since March 2013, when Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew Christian president Francois Bozize.
The referendum on Dec. 13 was affected by sporadic violence, with gunmen killing two people at the mainly Muslim PK5 neighborhood of Bangui and hand grenades being thrown at a polling station at a school in the fourth district of the capital.
The new constitution stipulates that members of CAR's current interim government cannot stand for the Dec. 27 legislative and presidential elections. It limits the presidency to two terms, and introduces a senate as the main legislative body. The landlocked nation is currently led by interim President Catherine Samba-Panza, a Christian, and Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun, a Muslim. CAR's government and religious leaders urged people to vote yes in the referendum, but there were fears that rebels would cause disruption and intimidate voters at election centers.
Nourredine Adam, a former second-in-command of the Seleka group, has said the electoral process should not go ahead. According the election authority, 741,056 out of 1.9 million registered voters took part in the referendum. The result of the vote has been sent to the constitutional court for final validation.
