Central Africans in Diaspora Praise Recent CAR Elections_美文

Central Africans in Diaspora Praise Recent CAR Elections

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

Sectarian violence between Christians 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 overthrowing 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 murky 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.