"Opposition candidates Henri Marie Dondra and Anicet Georges Dologuele cast their ballots on Sunday in the Central African Republic (CAR) presidential elections, urging citizens to vote while raising concerns over transparency and low turnout in the capital. Footage shows the two candidates submitting their votes at polling stations. “If you notice that there isn't much of a turnout, it's because the prevailing opinion today is that these elections are not at all transparent. This also discourages people from coming out to vote because it seems that the outcome is already a foregone conclusion. So I urge my fellow citizens to turn out en masse to vote for their candidate,” Dondra said. Both candidates questioned the integrity of the electoral process. Dologuele also cited restrictions on his campaign. “I was prevented from campaigning, but I have conveyed messages in many places, and I am confident,” he said. “Vote carefully, so that you do not have regrets from tomorrow onwards, and avoid putting yourself in a situation where, for the next seven years, you will regret making the wrong choice,” Dologuele added. The vote marks the first time in nearly 40 years that CAR is holding local elections, following decades of political instability and conflict, including a civil war between the Seleka movement and Anti-balaka groups that displaced around one million people. The elections could allow President Faustin-Archange Touadera to extend his rule beyond two terms. The polls are widely regarded as the most complex in the country’s history, with voters electing representatives across four levels of government simultaneously, presidential, legislative, regional and municipal. Touadera, who drew international attention after adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in 2022, pushed through a referendum in 2023 that abolished presidential term limits and extended mandates from five to seven years. Polling stations were due to close at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT). If no candidate secures more than 50 per cent of the vote, a runoff will be held between the top two contenders."