Samba-Panza is the first female to become the president of the
country. She emerged after former president, Franois Bozize, was pressurized
to stepped down by the international community amid violent clashes
between Muslim and Christian groups.
WHO IS SAMBA-PANZA
The 59-year-old former Bangui mayor was born on June 26, 1954 in Fort
Lamy, Chad to a Cameroonian father while her mother was from CAR.
She studied law in France where two of her three children still live.
Before getting into politics, she worked as a corporate lawyer. She
was also active in a women's rights organisation.
Ms. Samba-Panza succeeds CAR's first Muslim leader Michel Djotodia,
who resigned on January 10 after being put under pressure by regional
leaders and the former colonial power, France, over his failure to
curb the conflict.
She is a Christian but the successful businesswoman is seen as
politically neutral. Samba-Panza was the Chairwoman of the National
Dialogue in 2003 which was established to address conflict in the
region.
She was appointed mayor of Bangui by the National Transitional Council
during the 2012 -2013 conflict.
Her appointment was accepted by both sides in the conflict as she was
viewed as politically neutral.
HOW SHE EMERGED
She was elected as the top candidate amongst seven contenders in a
vote by the transitional parliament on Monday. Samba-Panza won 75
votes in the run-off, against 53 for Mr. Kolingba, the son of a former
president.
The election went to a second round after Ms. Samba-Panza failed to
secure an outright majority in the first round. Six other candidates
were knocked out in the first round. Among them were two women and two
sons of former presidents.
They all had to meet the stringent requirements set by the National
Transitional Council. All those who had held political offices under
previous interim president, Michel Djotodia, as well as all party
leaders and active members of the military were not allowed to run for
the presidency. Also among those excluded from the top job were
members of militia groups.
About 129 members of the 135-seat council took part in the secret
ballot, AFP reports.
TASK AHEAD OF THE NEW PRESIDENT
Central African Republic leader, Catherine Samba-Panza, faces tough
challenges as the country's new interim president. She faces a huge
task of bringing peace between Muslim Seleka fighters and the
Christian anti-balaka militias.
As interim president, she is required to organise a general election
by 2015; as well as facilitating the return of hundreds of thousands
of refugees to their villages and restoring a functional government.
CAR has to hold a fresh election by February 2015 at the latest.
France, however, wanted the election to hold this year. Current law
excludes the interim president from running.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HER
According to the French Catholic daily newspaper, La Croix, the news
of her appointment as interim president was well received by most
Bangui residents.
In the eyes of the business community, Samba-Panza is the right person
for the job. Development and human rights organisations have also
welcomed the appointment of the first female to such a high profile
job in CAR.
HER FIRST REQUEST
The first request made by the female president was to plead with the
Christian militias, known as anti-balaka and Muslim fighters in the
ex-Seleka rebel movement to end the bloodshed.
In her victory speech, she said, 'I call on my children, especially
the anti-balaka, to put down their arms and stop all the fighting. The
same goes for the ex-Seleka ' they should not have fear. I don't
want to hear any more talk of murders and killings.
'Starting today, I am the president of all Central Africans, without
exclusion,' she is quoted by AFP.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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