The Republican dialogue in the Central African Republic ended this Sunday, March 27, 2022. A week of discussions, 450 participants, but not the opposition or the armed groups, and in the end, 600 proposals.
With our correspondent in Bangui, Carol Valade
Nearly 600 proposals were therefore selected at the end of this week of discussion. The only measure to have truly unleashed passions was finally withdrawn. She planned a revision of the Constitution. Some people close to power already saw in it the possibility of a third term for President Touadéra. Civil society also strongly opposed it. The dialogue declared itself incompetent and referred the matter to the presidency and the National Assembly.
The recommendations adopted are fairly general. It is a question of revising the bilateral and multilateral agreements, strengthening the army, reforming the electoral institutions, finding new recipes for public finances. To verify the application of these measures, the dialogue proposes the creation of a monitoring body attached to the presidency, but without specifying a timetable.
” Basic issues not addressed ”, for the opponents
With the exception of a handful of opponents, subsequently expelled from the coalition, the heavyweights of the opposition and armed groups were absent. President Touadéra sharply castigated them in his speech: “ It is irresponsible to hide behind fallacious arguments to refuse dialogue and abandon the people we claim to serve. Ihe door of dialogue remains wide open to you. »
” It was enough to accept our conditionsresponds opposition spokesman Nicolas Thiangaye. The facts proved us right: we tried to bring about the third term while the substantive issues such as the war, the presence of mercenaries or the post-electoral crisis were not addressed.. »
More broadly, the dialogue responded to an expectation of the Central African Republic’s international partners. They had made it a condition to maintain their financial aid. Whether they were convinced remains to be seen.