Final Round of C. Africa Presidential Poll Delayed

The final round of presidential elections in the Central African Republic, which had been scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed over organizational problems, the electoral authority said Wednesday.

"We can't hold the election on Sunday, it's impossible, we will soon announce a new date," said Julius Ngouade Baba, a senior official at the electoral authority (ANE).

Two former premiers, Anicet Georges Dologuele and Faustin Archange Touadera, are vying for the presidency of the strife-torn nation in the second round runoff vote.

Presidential and legislative elections had been seen as vital for restoring stability after the worst sectarian violence in the chronically volatile and dirt poor nation.

Dologuele won 23.74 percent of the vote in the first round on December 30, trailed by Touadera, who picked up 19.05 percent.

Dologuele, a 58-year-old former central banker, came to be known as "Mr Clean" after his attempts to bring transparency to murky public finances during his time as premier.

Touadera, also 58, is a former maths professor who served as prime minister under disgraced ousted president Francois Bozize.

He was considered an outsider among the 30 candidates running for the top job.

At a meeting in the capital Bangui, the government, ANE and international community representatives mulled postponing the second round to February 14, according to a participant in the meeting.

There has been no official confirmation of the date, however.

"We drafted a technical report, which was brought before various institutions for consideration. When everyone agrees, we will quickly announce the new date," the ANE's Ngouade Baba said.

The announcement comes after the country's top court on Monday annulled last month's first-round legislative vote over "irregularities", but said the second round of the presidential poll could go ahead.

There were more than 1,000 candidates in the legislative election.

The new legislative elections should be held within 60 days of the last one according to law, but that is unlikely to happen in this poor country with abysmal infrastructure.

The latest violence in Central Africa set mainly Muslim rebels against vigilantes from the Christian majority, with civilians the main victims.

Nearly two million people were eligible to vote in the polls, seen as the way out of more than two years of sectarian bloodshed that has forced about one in 10 of the nation's 4.9 million people to flee their homes.

The vote was marred by logistical problems including delays in voting material reaching pollING centers.