What you need to know about the Central African Republic elections

The Central African Republic (CAR) will hold presidential and legislative elections on December 28. More than 2.39 million registered voters – including over 1.14 million women – are expected to cast their ballots.

Incumbent President Faustin-Archange Touadera has led the country since 2016 and is expected to win a third term after a constitutional referendum in 2023 removed term limits, a decision that sparked protests earlier this year.

Candidates participating in the elections.

Anicet-Georges Dologuélé

Dologuélé is a former prime minister and one of the incumbent's two main rivals. He served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001 and ran against Touadera in elections in 2015 and 2020.

He was the runner-up in the 2020 election, winning 21.6 percent of the vote. He alleged there were cases of election fraud, though a court upheld Touadera's victory.

He is running without the support of the main opposition party, the Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution of March 30, 2016, known by its French acronym BRDC. The party has boycotted the election, which is also for the legislature and regional and municipal positions, over concerns that the vote will not be fair or transparent.

Henri-Marie Dondra

Henri-Marie Dondra served as prime minister from 2021 to 2022.

The Constitutional Court cleared him to run in the election after Touadera accused him of holding Congolese citizenship, which he denied.

He started his professional career at the Banque Populaire Maroco-Centrafricaine and later spent 18 years mostly overseas at the Fonds Africain de Garantie et de Coopération Économique, a financial institution that aims to finance bank loans for public and private sector investment. He climbed the ranks there to become director general.

Dondra returned to Bangui in 2016 to serve as finance and budget minister under Touadera until 2021, when he became prime minister.

Marcelin Yalemende

Yalemende is an evangelical pastor running on a pledge to strengthen the rule of law, improve public services and fight corruption. He has promised to restore the two-term limit on presidential rule after it was controversially scrapped in a 2023 referendum.

Serge Ghislain Djorie

Djorie is a medical doctor specialized in infectious and tropical diseases who has published research with France's Institut Pasteur in Bangui. He is a former communications minister under Touadera.

Aristide Briand Reboas

Reboas is a former director of intelligence services and minister of youth and sports.

He ran in the 2020 presidential election, winning less than one percent of the vote.

Eddy Symphorien Kparekouti

Kparekouti has made the fight against poverty his top issue in the campaign. A civil engineer, he participated in drafting of constitution adopted in 2023.

Key stakes in the election

i) Security 

The Central African Republic has long grappled with armed violence, weak institutions, and a limited state presence beyond the capital, Bangui.

Despite the 2019 agreement, insecurity persists in parts of the country, while conflict, fragile services and extreme weather continue to fuel a humanitarian crisis, with more than two million people in need of assistance and nearly one million displaced at home or abroad.

Vast, sparsely populated and landlocked, the CAR is bordered by six countries and crisscrossed by dense forests, rivers and long, often impassable roads. Outside Bangui, many communities can only be reached by air or days-long journeys.

The UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA, has been present since 2014. It currently has around 14,000 military personnel and 3,000 police members, and they will help guard election sites.

Earlier this month, the UN envoy for Central Africa said this vote could mark a turning point for Bangui, after decades of violence and instability.

ii) Youth unemployment and cost of living crisis

With almost 82 percent of young people unemployed, the youth hope a change in government might boost job opportunities and economic growth. Rising costs of living are also a critical issue for voters, particularly in the face of inflation and economic stagnation.

iii) Foreign Influence

Russia has expanded its influence in the CAR in recent years, using military support to become President Touadera’s closest ally. 

However, tensions have surfaced in 2025 over Moscow’s demand to replace the Wagner Group—a private mercenary force—with the Russian military’s Africa Corps. This move could affect the political and security landscape.

Electoral Process

It is the first time in decades that the election includes presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections. In recent weeks, MINUSCA has mobilized extensive logistical and security support to deploy electoral materials across the country, including to remote and hard-to-reach areas.

The mission transported ballot papers, indelible ink, voter lists and other sensitive materials from Bangui to nearly 4,000 voting centers housing about 6,700 polling stations nationwide.

Immediately after the polls close, votes will be counted publicly at each polling station, with observers, officials, and party agents present to ensure transparency. 

Provisional results for all elections are expected to be announced by the National Elections Authority by January 5, 2026, about eight days after voting day. This timeframe follows patterns from previous elections, where provisional results were released within a similar timeframe.

If no candidate secures an absolute majority in the presidential race, a runoff between the top two candidates will be scheduled, likely in early 2026.

The Constitutional Court will handle any electoral disputes before proclaiming the final results, which may take additional weeks.

Ahead of the 28 December polls, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all Central Africans to participate peacefully in the vote and urged authorities to ensure that the elections are conducted in a “peaceful, orderly, inclusive and credible manner,” according to a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesperson.

With input from wires.