CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Pre-election interview with Lamine Cisse, UN special representative

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BANGUI, 11 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - After years of political turmoil and violence, the Central African Republic (CAR) is set to hold its first presidential and legislative elections on Sunday.

Its current leader, former army chief-of-staff Francois Bozize, seized power on 15 March 2003, after six months of armed conflict between his supporters and those of former President Ange-Felix Patasse. Forces from a former rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), CAR's southern neighbour, fought for Patasse. Armed groups from Chad, CAR's neighbour to the north, fought for Bozize.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the CAR, Lamine Cisse, was in the country during that conflict - and others before it - trying to persuade the political and military groups to work out their differences peacefully. Cisse was once the chief of staff of the Senegalese armed forces. Later, he became Senegal's interior minister. IRIN interviewed him in March in the CAR capital, Bangui, at the UN Peace-Building Support Office, known as BONUCA. Here are excerpts from that interview:

QUESTION: You have been the UN's Special Representative in the CAR since July 2001 and lived through countless political crises here. Is the situation really better now, or is this just a pause between the last crisis and the next?

ANSWER: The current situation is far better than during Patasse's rule. No region in the country is now occupied [by rebel or outside forces]. For the last two years [since Bozize took power], we did not hear of any coup attempts. There is a consensus now for the first time.

Q: In 1998 the UN had a full-blown [1,350 troops] peacekeeping mission in CAR, which in 1999 organised elections. Yet soon after the peacekeepers left in 2000, armed conflict broke out again. Why should elections work any better now?

A: MINURCA [the UN Mission in CAR] left too early.

Q: Are you saying the UN made a mistake?

A: Yes, of course, it left the CAR too quickly and too totally. I don't know if the UN has learned from that mistake but everyone can see what happened.

Q: Were the 1999 elections also faulty?

A: Certainly Patasse was democratically elected, but the other political groups were all against him, as was the army, which caused ongoing tensions.

Q: And so Patasse was overthrown?

A: The coup was decided in a European city on 7 December 2002 at a gathering of various political groups and [prominent] CAR citizens. They decided then and there to support Bozize [in overthrowing Patasse] and to create a joint transitional government.

Q: Did you do anything to try to prevent the coup?

A: I had several meetings with Patasse and I told him the truth. If he had listened to me he would not have been ousted. I advised him to appoint Bozize as lieutenant general and to give him a diplomatic post in an Asian country but Patasse refused.

Q: Do you also speak so frankly with President Bozize?

A: Yes. I knew Bozize when he was the army chief-of-staff. Now we meet frequently. The good thing about him is that if he says he will do something, he will do it.

Q: The army of Chad supported Bozize. What role is Chad now playing in the CAR?

A: Chad is playing a security role through its contingent in the regional peacekeeping force of CEMAC [Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States]. There are also Chadian soldiers in Bozize's army. Chad is a natural ally of CAR.

Q: And what about Jean-Pierre Bemba [the former rebel leader of the Congolese Mouvement de Libération du Congo whose troops occupied CAR in 2002 at Patasse's invitation]?

A: Jean-Pierre Bemba's role is more complicated. Bozize works with [the government of Joseph] Kabila. But if conflict breaks out in the DRC again, then Bemba [whose forces are based in the DRC's Equateur Province which borders CAR] could become a problem for the CAR.

Q: What is your biggest fear?

A: It is that the electoral process fails. Political violence could still break out. I'm worried that the candidates will hire bandits and armed groups to intimidate each other.

Q: There are also documented cases of human rights abuses by government security forces, and unknown armed groups who are harassing people in the provinces.

A: The government needs to unite to fight impunity. The armed bandits harassing people are unemployed youths and former soldiers who joined Bozize's rebellion - as well as former Chadian troops. Highway banditry occurs all over Africa. It only really becomes a problem when politicians manipulate the armed groups.

Q: Could the army also be a problem?

A: Yes, the army could be a big problem if recruitment or promotion becomes an ethnic consideration. This could again lead to mutinies. The army must be depoliticised and detribalised.

Q: And what about the political process?

A: After the elections, when the transitional process ends, my hope is that another transitional government will be formed that includes all the parties that lose the elections. Having a government of national unity like this will help minimise social tensions. It will be a grace period to help reinforce national cohesion. It must be formed regardless of ethnic group. Behind politics here you always find an ethnic dimension. The priority now must be good governance and fighting corruption.

Q: Tell us about the current living conditions of people in the CAR?

A: In general people are living in a precarious situation. I think the biggest single problem is salary arrears [for civil servants]. As long as salaries are not paid there will be social instability and crises.

Q: What should be the priority of the next government?

A: The immediate task of the new government should be to negotiate with donors like the European Union, France and China so that aid could resume as soon as possible. With the most recent IMF mission [in late February] it is now clear that new aid is unlikely to arrive until perhaps as late as August. This means the problem of salaries will continue. CAR is rich in natural resources, but few of the companies exploiting them pay taxes. If they did pay taxes the money could be used to pay government salaries. But this could only happen if the tax system is modernised and computerised, otherwise corruption will continue and salary arrears could pile up.

[ENDS]