Central African Republic: Failure Has Many Fathers - the Coup in the Central African Republic
PART 3What are the political and security consequences of the Seleka's seizure of the power?
ANALYSIS
At the moment, CAR is neither governed nor governable.
The critical thing now is the restoration of law and order in Bangui as well as in the rest of the country. The heterogeneous structure of the rebellion makes it very fragile and the Seleka leadership might not be able to control all its troops, as demonstrated by the looting that already happened in Bangui.
At the request of the Seleka, the French army and MICOPAX already patrol the streets of the capital, which illustrates that the first challenge is to enforce law and order.
On the political level, the Seleka leadership sent positive signals by maintaining Nicolas Tiangaye as a prime minister, by mentioning the possibility of including dignitaries of the previous regime in the new government, and by insisting on respect of the Libreville agreement.
Michel Djotodia announced that presidential elections would be held in 2016 in accordance with the Libreville agreement. In order to avoid a dangerous power vacuum, the leader of the Seleka had no choice but to quickly form a government. The composition of the government will be a first indicator of the Seleka governance.
On 25 March 2013, Michel Djotodia suspended the constitution, announced the dissolution of the National Assembly and said he intends to rule by decree.
Finally, the seizure of the power by the rebels led to a robust reaction from the African Union (AU) which condemned the unconstitutional change of regime.
The AU also decided to suspend the participation of CAR in the activities of the AU and to impose targeted sanctions, such as travel bans and asset freezes, against the main leaders of the Seleka, including Michel Djotodia. Furthermore, the AU called on other international organisations to adopt the same approach.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks on Bangui and emphasised that "those responsible for violations and abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law, including violence against civilians, sexual and gender-based violence and recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, must be held accountable".
This position was also supported publicly by European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton.
The United States made similar points on impunity, strongly condemned "the illegitimate seizure of power by the Seleka rebel alliance", and said it would review its roughly $2 million in non-humanitarian aid to CAR.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR..................
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