The republican dialogue promised by President Touadéra for a year and a half is scheduled to begin this Monday morning. However, all of the opposition parties that had participated in the preparations so far have just announced that they are finally boycotting the meeting on the grounds that their demands have not been met.
The dialogue will therefore take place without the opposition. Its spokesman, Nicolas Tiangaye, says he tried to get the real issues on the agenda until the end. Namely, according to him, the necessary participation of armed groups. “The armed groups are the protagonists of the crisis and the crisis cannot be resolved by excluding these protagonists,” he said.
The opposition also called for a debate on the 2020 electoral crisis, since it still considers the re-election of President Touadéra illegitimate. Fewer than one in three voters were able to cast their ballots due to the coordinated attack by rebel groups across the country.
Civil society expressed disappointment but remained hopeful for the outcome of the dialogue. “It’s pathetic,” said Hyacinthe Longba, a human rights defender and member of the organizing committee for the dialogue. “I would have liked to have seen all the sensitivities around the table,” added Paul-Crescent Beninga, the general rapporteur from civil society.
The opposition’s decision is considered “absurd” by the MCU, the ruling party. Mathurin Dimbelet-Nakoé is surprised that the opposition is withdrawing at the last minute after having sat on the organizing committee, established the themes and defined the contours of the dialogue. Despite the hand extended by the dear State, these people are not for peace,” he said. A group of people cannot continue to take the Central African Republic hostage.