CAR prepares for Sunday Presidential run- off elections

The stage is set for the Central African Republic’s long awaited presidential run- off.

Election authorities on Wednesday said the two contesting candidates, Faustin Touadera and Anicet Georges Dologué have been campaigning outside the capital.

The body has announced that all electoral materials will be ready on Thursday nationwide.

Electoral Commission President Marie-Madéleine N’Kouet Hoornaert confirmed that voting will be held on Sunday as scheduled.

The country’s constitutional court annulled the results from the legislative elections held in late December, citing widespread irregularities, but the presidential results of the first round were validated.

More than 1,500 candidates are running for 140 seats in the National Assembly.

In the initial presidential race, former prime minister Anicet Georges Dologuele got 24 percent of the vote, while another ex-prime minister, Faustin Archange Touadera, polled 19 percent.

Campaigning runs until midnight Friday.More than 300 policemen have been deployed for the election.

Central African Republic has suffered dictatorship and coups in recent decades.

Nearly 1 million people have been forced out of their homes as a result of violence in the country. Some have fled to neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.