CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC       Institutional Situation

  This section has been updated by Mr Boubacar Issa Abdourhamane,
a doctorate student at the CEAN, IEP – Montesquieu University of Bordeaux

Democratic Process

From independence in 1960 through to the first pluralist elections held on 22 August 1993, excepting the brief interval of the second term of President Dacko (1979/1981), the Central African Republic experienced nothing other than a series of authoritarian political regimes from the first presidency of David Dacko (1960/1965) to the single-party military regime of André Kolingba (1981-1993), not forgetting the excesses of President-for-Life and later Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa (1966/1979). The transition to democracy has been laborious, to say the least, in a country that is practically bankrupt economically and where the failure to pay salaries has caused several months of strikes by civil servants.
Despite the new pressures that were beginning to appear, the committee of the single party, the Central African Democratic Rally (Rassemblement démocratique centrafricain – RDC) rejected the idea of a multi-party system and President Kolingba ruled out that of a national conference. After the publication in March and May 1990 of two open letters violently criticising the regime of General Kolingba, the opposition grouped together in the Coordination Committee for the Calling of a National Conference (Comité de coordination pour la convocation d’une conférence nationale (CCCCN) and the Union of Central African Workers’ Organisations (USTC) set off large-scale political and social unrest in 1990/1991. Faced with the scale of internal and external pressures, President Kolingba came out in favour of a multiparty system in April 1991. Political prisoners were freed, political parties were legalised on 31 August 1991 and union freedom, suspended in July, was re-established on 1 November of the same year.
With the opposition now grouped together in the Concertation of Democratic Forces (Concertation des forces démocratiques – CFD) led by Professor Abel Goumba, who had already been Vice-President of the Government Council in 1957, the government continued to hesitate and delay democratisation. After initially accepting the principle of a national conference, President Kolingba finally called a non-sovereign, “large national debate” that was boycotted by the opposition. The aborted attempt at presidential elections of 25 October 1992 provoked a change in political attitude by France, the only power in the international community to continue supporting this unpopular, bankrupt regime.
The pluralist presidential and general elections held on 22 August and 19 September 1993 were organised under the strict supervision of the international community and by France in particular, whose special High representative, Michel Lunven coordinated the mission of the international observers while the French troops in the permanent bases of Bangui and Bouar, placed exceptionally under his orders, were mobilised to work on the practical organisation of voting operations. The former Prime Minister of Bokassa, Ange-Félix Patassé, was elected on 19 September 1993 with 53.45% of the votes, ahead of the CFD candidate Abel Goumba, while the former President had been eliminated in the first round with just 11% of the votes. The President’s party, the MLPC ,won 33 seats in the general elections and it was only the splitting of the CFD that allowed it to build a comfortable parliamentary majority, with the 7 members of the Patriotic Front for Progress (Front patriotique pour le Progrès – FPP) of A. Goumba and the 14 of the RDC, the former single party, remaining firmly in the opposition. The new Constitution adopted by referendum on 28 December 1994 ,with 82% of the votes (although with turnout of around only 40%), was promulgated by decree on 14 January 1995.
Very quickly, however, the political situation became tense. Seven opposition parties grouped together in the Democratic Council of the Central African Opposition (Conseil démocratique de l’opposition centrafricaine – CODEPO) from November 1995, violently criticising the authoritarian and ethnocentric nature of the regime of Ange Patassé. The political and economic problems fuelled each other mutually, with part of the army starting a mutiny in April 1996 to demand payment of their salaries. An intervention by French troops put an end to the mutiny, but the threats made against those who had taken part triggered a new, more political mutiny in May, despite the promise of an amnesty made by the Chief of State. Another intervention by French troops put an end to the second mutiny and President Patassé promised a government of national union. By the end of May however, the mutiny had turned into a war between French troops and those loyal to the government on the one hand, and the mutineers on the other.
Throughout 1996 and 1997, there was a succession of clashes, peace agreements and broken ceasefires. Agreements between the political forces in June 1996 led to the appointment of a Prime Minister, but the CODEDP refused to take part in the government. Some members of parliament even demanded that legal proceedings be initiated against the Chief of State in January 1997. The various crises led Chad, Gabon, Burkina Faso and Mali to make several attempts at mediation. With the support of these countries, the Central African Concertation and Dialogue Commission came to a reconciliation agreement. The Bangui Agreements signed on 25 January 1997 led to the creation of an Inter-African Mission for the Surveillance of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB) and a UN International Monitoring Committee (Comité international de suivi – CIS). The MISAB included soldiers from the mediator countries with French support and was set up on 12 February. A new government for action and the defence of democracy was formed with the participation of the whole of the political class. There were clashes between mutineers and the MISAB in March, May and June that created the risk of compromising the Bangui Agreements.
The UN set up a 1,400-strong Mission of the United Nations in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) with the mission of ensuring that the agreements signed between the different parties were complied with. France provided logistical support to MINURCA from the moment it was set up in 1998 and decided to put an end to its own contribution in January 1999. Uncertainty reigned as to whether the mandate of the mission would be renewed with the approach of the presidential elections scheduled for August and September 1999.
The decision to maintain an international presence to monitor the agreements was all the more crucial in that the upcoming elections bore enormous potential for conflict, due to the political and identity-based splits that existed in the country. The last general elections in December 1998 were an additional opportunity for contestation. The lack of organisation of the first round almost cast doubt on the election itself, although the operations had been entrusted to an Independent Mixed Electoral Commission (CEMI) on which all the parties were represented. The second round held on 13 December initially gave an absolute majority to the opposition with 55 seats. However, the Union of the Opposition (UFAP) soon split and with the support of 5 independents and one PSD member, the MLPC had a majority with 55 seats. President Patassé thus avoided a period of cohabitation and appointed his former Finance Minister, Anicet Georges Dologuélé as Prime Minister. The opposition protested against what it saw as corruption and buying members of parliament.
The opposition has been demanding institutional reform for several years now. It considers that the distribution of power is imbalanced in favour of the Chief of State and thus creates a danger to democracy. However, no reforms have taken place apart from an increase in the number of members of parliament from 85 to 107. At the last general elections in late 1998, the movement of the President just got an absolute majority through a series of alliances that were described as manipulation by the opposition. The presidential elections of 19 September 1999, held against a backdrop of political tension and the crumbling of the State, were won by the outgoing President, Ange Patassé, with 51.63% of the votes, ahead of General André Kolingba of the RDC (19.38%), David Dacko of the MDD (11.15%), Abel Goumba of the FPP (6.06%), Pouzère Henry (4.19%), Jean Paul Ngoupandé of the PUN (3.14%), Lakoué Enoch Derant of the PSD (1.33%) and Charles Massi of the FODEM (1.31%).
For all this, the end of the electoral cycle did not put an end to the political and institutional uncertainties that reign. In April 2000, the parliamentary opposition with its 50 members out of the 109 that sit in the National Assembly, called a vote of no confidence against the government led by Prime Minister Anicet Georges Deloguélé. After the motion had been defeated by the presidential majority, the opposition parties took their combat into the streets and demanded, with the support of the associations of Central African civil society, the departure of the Chief of State whose presence “is a factor aggravating political and social tensions”. It is true that the financial crisis that has shaken the country for several years, causing delays in payment of salaries, has not made things easier. In December 2000, the unions of Central African workers called days of strikes among the 17,000 civil servants. Despite the end of military violence caused by mutinies, with the support of the UN, which still has a small surveillance staff in Bangui, the situation remains precarious in the Central African Republic and the breaking off of all dialogue between the government and opposition renders the situation even more fragile.

Political Institutions

The Central African Constitution is contested by a part of the opposition that rejects the presidentialist nature of a regime which, at first glance, could be considered as being semi-presidential. The President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of office of 6 years that can be renewed once. Not only can he dissolve the National assembly, he may also dismiss the Prime Minister at any time. He has the initiative of proposing laws and it is him and not the parliament that ratifies international treaties. The Prime Minister would appear to be more a coordinator of government than the leader the Constitution provides for.
The Parliament is composed of a single chamber, the National Assembly. It initiates laws, raises taxes and checks the actions of the government. It is composed of 107 members (85 until the general elections of December 1998), elected by direct universal suffrage for 5 years. Like the Prime Minister, the Assembly loses out when it comes to the way power is organised. It can overthrow the government but is not the only authority to have that power, since the President of the Republic has the same right.
A Constitutional Court has been set up. It is composed of 9 members (3 appointed by the President of the Republic, 3 by the Speaker of the National Assembly and 3 magistrates elected by their peers) whose term of office is of 9 years. It judges the constitutional validity of the laws that are promulgated or in the process of so being. It checks that all electoral operations are fair, proclaims election results and rules on all electoral disputes or conflicts of jurisdiction between the executive, legislative and local authorities. Its decisions are not subject to appeal. The opposition accuses the members of the Court of being biased in favour of the party in power.
There is an Economic and Social Council which gives its opinion on all proposals or projects for legislation of economic, social or cultural nature and can be responsible for enquiries in these three areas.

Judicial System

The Constitution brought about an in-depth reform of the judiciary by creating several courts: the Court of Cassation (with its criminal, civil and commercial and social chambers), a Council of State, an Auditors Court and a Conflicts Tribunal, a non-permanent jurisdiction that decides on conflicts of competence between the judicial and administrative branches.
There is a High Court of Justice, a non-permanent jurisdiction composed of 56 magistrates and 6 members of parliament elected in a secret ballot by their peers, which can judge ministers or members of parliament in cases of treason, or the President of the Republic, who can only be indicted by a 2/3 majority of the National Assembly.

Decentralisation and Devolution

The Constitution stipulates that the local authorities of the Central African Republic are the Regions, Prefectures, Sub-Prefectures and Communes. A reform intended to lead towards decentralisation of the State and regionalisation was launched at the initiative of the Ministry of Decentralisation and Regionalisation, set up in April 1995. The 16 current Prefectures are supposed to be grouped together into 7 regions, one of which, called Bas Oubangui, would include the communes of Bangui. During discussion on the new Constitution, certain parties protested against this regionalisation policy, fearing that it might exacerbate ethnic conflicts. The pluralist municipal elections have yet to be organised and, at each administrative level, the authorities are appointed by the central authorities. Initially scheduled for April 2000 by the Home Minister, these elections have been postponed several times.

Political Parties

The debate about the draft Constitution led to the restructuring of the Central African political landscape at the end of 1994. Since then, the party of the Chief of State, the MLPC, effectively led by the President of the Republic since its Party Congress of November 1995, has only been able to count on the support of the Liberal Democratic party (Parti libéral démocrate – PLD) and its 7 seats, the National Convention (Convention nationale – CN), 4 seats and the Movement for the Social Development of Black Africa (Mouvement pour l’évolution social de l’Afrique noire – MESAN) – 1 seat.
During the first term of the parliament, a Democratic Council of Opposition Political Parties (CODEPO) was created on 29 November 1995, demanding, in particular, the revision of the Constitution and the Electoral Code, the institutionalisation of an Autonomous National Electoral Commission, access to State media for opposition parties and the definition of a status for the opposition. The CODEPO was composed of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress (Alliance pour la démocratie et le progrès – ADP) – 6 seats – the Civic Forum (Forum civique –FC) – 1 seat – the Patriotic Front for Progress (Front patriotique pour le progrès – FPP) – 7 seats – the Movement for Democracy and Development (Mouvement pour la démocratie et le développement – MDD) – 7 seats, the Movement for Democracy and the Renaissance of Central Africa (Mouvement pour la démocratie et la renaissance en Centrafrique – MDREC) – 1 seat, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – 3 seats and the Union for the Development and Renaissance of Central Africa (Union pour le développement et la renaissance centrafricaine) an extra-parliamentary formation.
Since the general elections of December 1995, the MLPC has had 49 seats, but needs the support of 6 other members (5 independents and a PSD renegade) to govern. The FPP of Abel Goumba, the RDC of former President Kolingba and the MDD of the other ex-President David Dacko remain the principal opposition forces in the new assembly.

Trades Unions

Despite the organisation of a split-off movement grouped together in the OSLP and very close to the MLPC, the Confederation of Unions of Central African Workers (Union des syndicats des travailleurs centrafricains – USTC), affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Unions, triggered closely-followed protest movements to demand payment of the salaries that were owed from 1995 onwards, after something of a social truce. The suspension of the agreements between the Central African State and the Bretton-Woods institutions in March 1995, one year after they had been signed, after the devaluation of the CFA Franc in January 1994, had the effect of starting off the protests again as late payment of salaries became chronic. Many sector-based unions exist and make their voices heard, such as the school students union, the health sector union and that of the teachers. The employees of the different ministries are also grouped together into unions. At the end of the year 2000 there was an increase in ESTC militancy under the leadership of Théophile Sonny Kolé, calling for days of general strikes to force the government to pay up the twelve months of wages that it owed the civil servants.

Human Rights

Particularly dynamic during the difficult transition period, the Central African League of Human Rights, led by lawyer Nicolas Tiangayen, spoke out through an open letter from its President in September 1995, attracting the attention of the Chief of State (who had presided over its congress a few months before) to the serious and repeated violations of human rights in the country. The various military mutinies were an opportunity for violence on both sides and caused the deaths of dozens of people. In 2000, several journalists were arrested after publishing information that was unfavourable to the government. Such was the case of Alexis Maka Gbossokoto, the director of the daily publication Citoyen and two other journalists from Vouma and Le Démocrate, arrested for offending the Head of State.

Media

Political freedom brought with it a multitude of newspapers. Among the dailies, we could mention Le Novateur and, among the weeklies, La Tortue déchaînée and Vouma, close to the opposition, or Délit d’Opinion. More episodically, publications linked to the political parties appear, such as Le Rassemblement (RDC) or E Zingo (FPP). But this press represents only a weak balance of power in the face of the State media controlled by the new authorities, who do not seem to have given up the habits of State control that have marked the country since independence.
We should also add a reference to La Voix du patronat, a news periodical of the National Union of Central African Employers. The UNPOC seeks to play its role in the discussions necessary to set up the rule of law.