{French President François Hollande said that the Central African Republic (CAR) should hold democratic elections by 2015, during an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Radio France Internationale and TV5MONDE on Saturday.}
CAR, a former French colony, has been gripped by unrest since Seleka rebels seized control of the country in March, ousting former president François Bozizé. Although the group’s leader, Michel Djotodia, took over as interim leader, he has struggled to rein in rebel fighters, many of whom are from neighbouring Chad and Sudan.
“You can’t leave a president in office who has not done anything or who has let things go,” Hollande said. “Earlier we discussed with African leaders [and] the prime minister of the Central African Republic – who belongs to a coalition that no longer exists on the ground – and the idea, and I support that idea, is to organise elections as soon as possible.”
He said that a vote should be held by 2015.
France will not send anymore troops to CAR
Hollande also reiterated during the interview that France was deploying a total of 1,600 troops to CAR, where sectarian violence has claimed the lives of at least 300 people over the past three days.
He stressed, however, that France will not send any more reinforcements to the country.
“There will not be any more [soldiers going], that will be enough,” Hollande said, explaining that the African Union also planned to boost its military presence in CAR to 6,000 men in the coming days.
Hollande went on to say that two of the goals of the military intervention in CAR was to disarm the different rebel groups and ensure the country’s security in order to pave the way for elections.
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