Central African general election, 1993

General elections were held to in the Central African Republic on 22 August 1993, with a second round on 19 September 1993. They followed the previous year's elections, the results of which had been voided by the Supreme Court due to irregularities.^[1]

The presidential elections were won by Ange-Félix Patassé of the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC), who defeated Patriotic Front for Progress leader Abel Goumba in the second round. Incumbent president André Kolingba was eliminated in the first round, winning only 12% of the vote. Kolingba had attempted to cling onto power by issuing two decrees on 28 August (after it was apparent that he was going to lose the elections) that changed the composition of the Supreme Court and amended the electoral code, which would have allowed the results to be manipulated. However, after heavy pressure from the French government, the decrees were repealed.^[2] The National Assembly election results also saw a victory for the MLPC, which won 34 of the 85 seats.

When Patassé took office on 22 October, it marked the first--and to date, only--time since the Central African Republic gained independence that an incumbent government peacefully transferred power to the opposition.

Results

President

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Ange-Félix Patassé	Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People	302,004	37.3	363,297	53.49
Abel Goumba	Patriotic Front for Progress	175,467	21.7	315,935	46.51
David Dacko	David Dacko Movement	162,721	20.1
André Kolingba	Central African Democratic Rally	97,942	12.1
Enoch Derant Lakoué	Social Democratic Party	19,368	2.4
Timothée Malendoma	Civic Forum	16,400	2.0
François Bozizé	Independent	12,159	1.5
Jeanne-Marie Ruth Rolland	Central African Republican Party	8,068	1.0
Invalid/blank votes		15,317	–	13,362	–
Total		809,298	100	692,597	100
Registered voters/turnout		1,181,874	68.5	1,235,568	56.1
Source: EISA

National Assembly

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People			34
Central African Democratic Rally			13
Patriotic Front for Progress			7
Liberal Democratic Party			7
Alliance for Democracy and Progress			6
David Dacko Movement			6
National Convention			3
Social Democratic Party			3
Democratic Movement for the Renaissance and Evolution of Central Africa			1
Central African Republican Party			1
Civic Forum			1
Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa			1
Independents			2
Total			85
Source: IPU

References

1. Elections in the Central African Republic African Elections Database
2. Elections held in 1993 IPU