NEW YORK (RIA Nov-osti): UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on all parties in the CAR to join the observance of the ceasefire, announced earlier by President Faustin Ar-range Touadera, the Secre-tary General ‘s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Earlier, Touadera announced the end of military operations and all hostilities throughout the country, starting at midnight on October 15.
“The Secretary-General calls on all other parties to immediately adhere to this ceasefire,” Dujarrick said.
Guterres also called for the renewal of the 2019 political peace and reconciliation agreement, he said.
“The Secretary General calls on all parties to engage constructively in an inclusive political dialogue,” the official added.
The situation in the CAR worsened in early December 2013, when clashes broke out in Bangui between the militants of the former Islamist group Seleka and the Christian rebels opposing them. According to the UN at the end of July 2018, during the conflict, up to 1 million people were forced to leave their homes, about 6 thousand people died.
The CAR authorities and representatives of the armed groups on February 6, 2019, following almost two weeks of negotiations in Khartoum, signed a peace agreement, which is designed to end the long-standing conflict in the country. The parties agreed that organizing free and inclusive elections is the only way to ensure the turnover of power in the country. In addition, the government has pledged to ensure the freedom to form parties or political movements. It was also decided to create the necessary conditions for the voluntary return of refugees.
The CAR Constitutional Court on January 18 announced the final results of the presidential elections on December 27, 2020.
The current head of state, Faustin Arrange Touadera, won with 53.16% of the vote in the first round. For his closest rival – the leader of the Union for Central African Renaissance party Anise Georges Dologele – 21.9% of voters voted.
The opposition and armed rebel groups did not recognize the election results – the government reported attempts by the rebels to attack Bangui.
