By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Central African Republic’s President, who in 2023 expunged the tenure limit from the constitution, on Saturday expressed his interest to contest for a third term in office, extending his rule into a second decade.
“Many of you have asked for me, and my answer is yes. I am your candidate for the presidential election of December 2025,” President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, 68, said at a meeting of his party, the United Hearts Movement, in the capital, Bangui, on Saturday.
“We will continue the work of rebuilding our country.”
Since taking office in 2016, Touadera has engaged foreign forces to stay in power amid a persistent civil conflict, including mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner militia, who intervened in 2018 on the side of the government.
Despite its rich resources, including gold, diamonds and timber, the 5.5 million population country largely lives in poverty.
It has witnessed waves of instability, including coups and rebellions, since independence from France in 1960.
Touadera won a second term in 2020, though militants including the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) have fought to overturn that result.
The army, backed by United Nations peacekeepers and Russian and Rwandan troops, has been fighting the group for years.
Touadera’s current term was supposed to be his last, but in 2023 he orchestrated a constitutional referendum that abolished the two-term limit and extended the presidential mandate from five to seven years.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have said the new constitution, which was backed by more than 95% of voters, could allow Touadera to stay in power for life.
No date has been announced for the December presidential election.
