This central African nation’s rebel-leader turned self-proclaimed president named his prime minister on Sunday, charging the longtime opposition leader with assembling a new government in the coming days.
Abel Goumba, a 76-year-old parliamentarian, physician and leader of the country’s Patriotic Front for Progress, will oversee daily operations in the new government to be headed by one-time army chief and rebel leader Gen. Francois Bozize, according to a government release read on state radio.
The new government could be announced within 48 hours, the statement said without providing details.
Bozize’s rebel fighters overran Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, last week as President Ange-Felix Patasse visited Niger, sending Patasse’s army fleeing.
Within days, Bozize had dissolved the country’s parliament and constitution and named himself president, while promising elections in the future. Before calm returned to Bangui days after the March 15 rebel attack, the city centre was looted by citizens and Bozize’s rebel fighters robbed homes in the suburbs. Nearly 80 people have died since the first attack. Patasse has taken refuge in Togo.
Besides serving as a parliamentarian, Goumba — who ran against both Patasse in 1993 presidential elections — briefly acted as the country’s prime minister in the late 1950s. Goumba has also served as a humanitarian worker in Republic of Congo and Rwanda and taught medicine at University of Bangui.
Central African Republic — a country of about 3,6-million people that is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium — has been plagued by military revolts and other uprisings since gaining independence from France in 1960.
Patasse, elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1999, has been accused by opponents of rampant corruption, and his rule has been increasingly divisive.
Bozize, a one-time Patasse supporter, was accused in 2001 of involvement in a failed coup against Patasse. Bozize went into hiding in the rural north and neighbouring Chad, from where he launched his rebellion. – Sapa-AP