Central Africans in Diaspora Praise Recent CAR Elections

Central Africans in Diaspora Praise Recent CAR Elections

After years of unrest, the Central African Republic recently observed peaceful elections. Now, two candidates and former prime ministers, Anicet Dologuele and Faustin Touadera, head to a runoff at the end of the month.

The National Electoral Commission said nearly 80 percent of voters turned out for the elections last month. That included some living outside the country, like residents of a refugee camp near Garoua Boulai in Cameroon.

"Everybody is excited because we need change in our country," said Abdoul Karim Carvalho, a refugee voter.

"Because there is disorder¹ in my country, we are here to find a unique president who'll be able to reconcile our country and bring peace. That's all we want," said Sidick Aboubakar, another refugee voter.

While thousands of Central African refugees at the camp were able to cast their ballots³ in the presidential election, others in other parts of the world couldn’t.  

Reason for hope

But regardless of who becomes the next leader after a runoff ballot² later this month, Central Africans around the world said they were excited and couldn't wait for their country to emerge from its crisis.

Gabino Guerengomba lives in the United States; he is chief executive officer of Integrated Solar Technologies and a leader of the Central African community in Washington. He didn’t get to vote but said the high turnout sent a message to the world.

"They really want to get past this really sad episode of our history and move on to greener pastures," he said.

Sectarian violence between Christians⁴ and Muslims in the past several years has caused nearly 1 million people to flee their homes.

Guerengomba said the election “was an opportunity for us to realize that we Central Africans are the only people that could be responsible for what our country would become."

'The best plan'

When asked to name his favorite candidate, he smiled and said he wasn’t supporting anyone in particular.

“Right now, it’s not even about preference, nor affiliation," he said. "It’s about who has the best plan, who can reconcile the Central African people, who can bring about a societal framework.”

The winner of the runoff will replace the transitional government of Catherine Samba-Panza that came to power in 2014 after a rebel leader stepped aside less than a year after overthrowing⁵ President Francois Bozize.

Dologuele won 23.78 percent of the vote in the first round of voting on December 30. Touadera trailed at 19.42 percent, according to unofficial results.

Dologuele, 58, a former central banker, came to be known as "Mr. Clean" after his attempts to clean up murky⁶ public finances during his spell as prime minister from 1998 to 2001.

Touadera, also 58, is a former math professor who served as prime minister under Bozize. He was considered an outsider among the 30 candidates running for the top job.

In a statement released Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commended the vote and said there were "clear signs that Central Africans seek a new beginning for their country, and a future based on democratic governance and free from the violence and instability that have plagued the country for far too long.”

1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

6 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。