Purpose of elections The elections were the first to be held since the March 2013 coup, which ousted President François Bozizé and dissolved the National Assembly. A National Transitional Council (CNT) was established in April 2013 to oversee a transitional period (twice extended) and to draft a new constitution, which was adopted by referendum on 13 December 2015.
The parliamentary and presidential elections initially took place on 30 December, but several candidates claimed that the elections were rigged. On 25 January, the Transitional Constitutional Court invalidated the first round of the parliamentary elections due to "many irregularities and the implication of candidates in these irregularities". Fresh parliamentary elections were held on 14 February 2016 in parallel with the run-off presidential elections. Delays in the announcement of the first round results meant that run-off parliamentary elections were held on 31 March, four days later than planned.
The 2016 elections returned a fragmented parliament. Independent candidates took 55 of the 140 seats in the new National Assembly. The National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP ), led by Mr. Michel Amine, became the largest single party, winning 13 seats. The Central African Union for Renewal (URCA) of former Prime Minister Anicet Georges Dologuele took 11 seats. Former President Bozizé led the National Convergence "Kwa Na Kwa" (KNK) which took seven seats.
In the presidential elections, Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera (independent) - the last prime minister under President Bozizé - defeated Mr Dologuele (URCA), who had won the most votes in the first round of voting on 30 December. On 30 March, Mr. Touadera was sworn in as the new President. He succeeded Acting President Catherine Samba-Panza, who had overseen the transitional period since January 2014, succeeding Acting President Michel Djotodia, who led the 2013 coup. The convening of the National Assembly on 6 May 2016 marked the end of the three-year long transitional period.
*The first elections after the 2013 coup.
- In all, 128 members, including 11 women, were elected to the 140-member National Assembly in two rounds of elections held on 14 February and 31 March 2016.
- Elections were rerun for the 12 remaining seats on 15 May and 26 June. No women were elected in the first round and no women candidates advanced to the run-offs.
- On 10 July, the Constitutional Court invalidated the results for first constituency in Bimbo and ordered a fresh election.
- Fresh elections in Bimbo were held on 23 October (1st round) and 4 December 2016 (2nd round). A male independent candidate was elected. The distribution of seats above includes the results of these elections, which brought the number of independent candidates elected from 59 to 60.