President Faustin Archange Touadera has secured a decisive first-round victory in the Central African Republic’s presidential election, according to provisional results released by the National Elections Authority (ANE) on Monday, January 5, 2026.
Representing the United Hearts Movement (MCU), the incumbent president garnered 76.15% of the vote, totaling 894,556 ballots. This victory grants Touadera a third consecutive term following the 2023 constitutional change that removed previous term limits, allowing the leader, who has been in power since 2016, to extend his presidency.
The election, held on December 28, 2025, saw a voter turnout of 52.42%, with 1,254,376 citizens casting ballots out of a registered electorate of nearly 2.4 million. Participation was relatively balanced across genders, consisting of 647,287 men and 607,089 women. Touadera’s performance far outpaced his six challengers, with his nearest rival, Anicet Georges Dologuele of the Union for Central African Renewal (URCA), finishing second with 14.66% of the vote. The remaining candidates, including former Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra and independent Marcelin Yalemende, all finished with less than 4% each.
While the ANE managed to tally results from approximately 84% of the polling stations, the process took place under significant security and political pressure. The opposition remained largely divided, with some factions boycotting the process under the Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution. Despite these tensions and the 40,231 ballots declared invalid, the ANE confirmed that the vote was conducted across 3,910 polling centers nationwide and through 62 diaspora locations. These provisional results now await final validation by the Constitutional Court to become official.
AC/fss/abj/APA