FILE PHOTO: Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera arrives before a dinner with several heads of state and government and leaders of international organisations at the Elysee Palace, as part of the 19th Francophonie Summit, in Paris, France, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
BANGUI (Reuters) -Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera said on Saturday he will run for a third term later this year, seeking to extend his rule into a second decade after scrapping term limits in 2023.
"Many of you have asked for me, and my answer is yes. I am your candidate for the presidential election of December 2025," the 68-year-old said at a meeting of his party, the United Hearts Movement, in the capital Bangui.
"We will continue the work of rebuilding our country."
Since taking office in 2016, Touadera has enlisted outside forces to stay in power amid a persistent civil conflict, including mercenaries from Russia's Wagner militia, who intervened in 2018 on the side of the government.
Landlocked Central African Republic, roughly the size of France and with a population of around 5.5 million, is deeply impoverished despite being rich in resources including gold, diamonds and timber.
It has witnessed waves of instability, including coups and rebellions, since independence from France in 1960.
Touadera won a second term in 2020, though militants including the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) have fought to overturn that result.
The army, backed by United Nations peacekeepers and Russian and Rwandan troops, has been fighting the group for years.
Touadera's current term was supposed to be his last, but in 2023 the country held a constitutional referendum that abolished the two-term limit and extended the presidential mandate from five to seven years.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have said the new constitution, which was backed by more than 95% of voters, could allow Touadera to stay in power for life.
The exact date of the December vote has not been announced.
(Reporting by Pacome Pabandji; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian and Ayen Deng Bior; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Jan Harvey)
