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Central African Republic

Landlocked country in Central Africa, bordered northeast and east by Sudan, south by the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo, west by Cameroon, and northwest by Chad.

Government

The 2004 constitution provides for a president, elected by universal suffrage for a six-year term, renewable only once, and a 105-member national assembly, similarly elected for a five-year term. The president, who is head of state, appoints a prime minister to head a council of ministers.

History

In the 1880s Count Savorgnan de Brazza led French expeditions into the region and in the 1890s the French colony of Ubangi-Shari was established. Private French concessionary companies exploited the African population with forced labour, and there was a major insurrection in 1928. It became self-governing within French Equatorial Africa, under the name Central African Republic, in 1958 and achieved full independence in 1960.

Barthélémy Boganda, who had founded the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (MESAN), had been a leading figure in the campaign for independence and became the country's first prime minister. A year before full independence he was killed in an air crash. He was succeeded by his nephew, David Dacko, who became president in 1960 and in 1962 established a one-party state, with MESAN as the only political organization.

Bokassa's rule

On 31 December 1965, the commander-in-chief of the army, Col Jean-Bédel Bokassa, overthrew Dacko in a military coup. Bokassa annulled the constitution, dissolved the national assembly, and made himself president for life in 1972 and marshal of the republic in 1974. He established an authoritarian regime, with ex-president Dacko serving as personal adviser from 1976, when the republic was renamed the Central African Empire. In December 1977 Bokassa was crowned emperor at a lavish ceremony his country could ill afford. His rule became increasingly dictatorial and idiosyncratic, leading to revolts by students and, in April 1979, by schoolchildren who objected to the compulsory wearing of school uniforms made by a company owned by the Bokassa family. Many of the children were imprisoned, and it is estimated that at least 100 were killed, with the emperor allegedly personally involved.

Dacko's coup

In September 1979, while Bokassa was in Libya, Dacko ousted him in a bloodless coup, backed by France. The country became a republic again, with Dacko as president. Following student unrest, Dacko sacked ministers who had served under Bokassa and in 1981 a new constitution was adopted, with an elected national assembly. Dacko was elected president in March 1981, but opposition to him grew and in September 1981 the armed forces' Chief of Staff, Gen André Kolingba deposed him in a bloodless coup.

Military government

Under Kolingbaseverals military government the constitution and all political organizations were suspended, but there was underground opposition to the regime. In 1985 Kolingba included civilians in his administration and in 1986 a new constitution was approved by referendum. Bokassa returned from exile in France, expecting to be returned to power. Instead, he was tried for his part in the killing of the schoolchildren in 1979 and condemned to death; the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1988. In 1991, in response to widespread demonstrations calling for a return to a multiparty system, Kolingba lifted the ban on political parties. In 1992, a national conference convened to discuss the future of the country but opposition groups soon walked out.

Civilian rule

Multiparty elections were held in September 1993 and Ange-Felix Patasse, leader of the left-wing opposition Movement for the Liberation of Central African People (MLPC), was elected president, finishing ahead of Dacko, Kolingba, and Abel Goumba. This ended 12 years of military dictatorship. Former dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa was stripped of his rank and ordered to leave his military headquarters in November 1993. Kolingba was stripped of his rank as general in 1994. A new constitution was adopted in 1995. The new government, however, which drew its popular support from the densely populated northwest, faced strong opposition from other parts of the country. There were three mutinies against the government in 1996–97 and mounting inter-ethnic violence. In September 1999 Patasse was re-elected president.

A May 2001 attempted military coup against President Patasse was foiled by the 500-strong presidential guard, aided by Libyan soldiers and troops from the army of Jean-Pierre Bemba, the rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Soldiers who supported former president André Kolingba were behind the coup. In August 2001 defence minister Jean-Jacques Démafouth was dismissed and arrested in connection with the coup.

Overthrow of Patasse

The former army chief, General François Bozizé, who had been forced to flee to Chad, continued to oppose Patasse, and overthrew Patasse in October 2002, when he was out of the country. Bozizé set up a broad-based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution and the opposition leader, Abel Goumba, became vice-president. Bozizé was elected president in May 2005.