Yaounde, Cameroon — Political parties and civil society groups in the Central African Republic are welcoming the U.N. Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, or MINUSCA.
Civil society groups say the U.N. peacekeeping troops will protect civilians from rebels during parliamentary and local elections that have now been rescheduled for April 6.
Blandine Ikom, a member of the C.A.R's Coalition of Civil Society Groups, said she expected U.N. troops to help the nation make sure that local and parliamentary elections in 2025 and a presidential election expected in 2026 are held in peace to end more than a decade of chaos and political tensions. She said a return to democracy and local governance would restore peace and stability in the troubled state.
The success of the polls is not assured. Officials first scheduled the polls for October, postponed them to December, then changed the date again to April 6.
The government said rebel groups and opposition political parties were planning to disrupt the elections unless electoral laws and the 2023 constitution were revised. The opposition said the laws favor the party of President Faustin-Archange Touadera.
Last week, the U.N. Security Council extended the MINUSCA mandate through November 15, 2025. The council said MINUSCA would protect civilians, support C.A.R government officials, deploy forces for the preservation of territorial integrity and support an ongoing peace process.
Florence Marchal, MINUSCA spokesperson, said the force was also tasked with making sure all qualified C.A.R. civilians are registered on voter lists.
"The first step is to update the voter registration lists, and we are very keen on supporting this step because the same voter lists will be used for local elections, presidential elections and legislative elections," Marchal told VOA by phone from Bangui, the C.A.R. capital. "Especially, we need to have more women on the voter lists. We have launched a specific project to support the registration of women on voter lists."
Marchal said MINUSCA aims to have at least 50 percent of C.A.R. women registered to vote. The mission is assisting civilians who do not have a required birth certificate to obtain the document, Marchal said.
MINUSCA said it had developed what it called an integrated security plan with C.A.R military and police to ensure the safety of election officials, civilians and material during the April 6 polls and to lay the groundwork for presidential elections the next year.
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Army General Zephirin Mamadou, the C.A.R.'s military chief of staff, said Monday on state TV that the extension of the U.N. peacekeepers' mandate was another diplomatic victory for Touadera, who wants all civilians to live in peace and to have their goods protected from rebels who want to destabilize the C.A.R. Mamadou said the government troops he commands were galvanized by the extension and looked forward to collaborating with U.N. troops.
MINUSCA was created in 2014 to address the Central African Republic's long-running security, humanitarian and political crisis. It is today made up of 14,400 troops, over 3,000 police and 108 corrections officers.
