body-container-line-1

Independent takes commanding lead in C. Africa presidential race: partial results

By AFP
Central African Republic Central African presidential candidate Faustin Archange Touadera, pictured on December 28, 2015, garnered 23 of votes with a quarter of the ballots counted.  By Issouf Sanogo AFPFile
JAN 3, 2016 LISTEN
Central African presidential candidate Faustin Archange Touadera, pictured on December 28, 2015, garnered 23% of votes with a quarter of the ballots counted. By Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Independent candidate Faustin Archange Touadera took a commanding lead in the Central African Republic's presidential race on Sunday, garnering more than 120,000 votes (23 percent) with a quarter of the ballots counted, electoral officials said.

The former prime minister and maths professor was considered an outsider in the field of 30 candidates vying in the election seen as vital to restoring stability after years of unrest in the former French colony.

body-container-line