Democratic Movement for the Renaissance and Evolution of Central Africa explained

The Democratic Movement for the Renaissance and Evolution of Central Africa (French: Mouvement Démocratique pour la Renaissance et l'Evolution en Centrafrique, MDREC) is a political party in the Central African Republic.

History

The party was established in 1990,^[1] and led by Joseph Bendounga, a campaigner for democracy and mayor of the capital Bangui. In mid-1992 Bendounga was arrested and sent to prison for six months for criticising President André Kolingba.^[2]

In the 1993 general elections the party won a single seat in the National Assembly.^[3] In the 1999 presidential elections the party supported incumbent President Ange-Félix Patassé. Although Bendounga was chosen as the party's candidate for the 2005 presidential elections and he applied to contest the elections,^[4] his name did not appear on the ballot.^[2]

The party contested the 2011 parliamentary elections, although it only put forward two candidates,^[5] and failed to win a seat. It subsequently backed Séléka in their overthrow of the President François Bozizé in 2013.^[6]

Notes and References

http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/car-parties-contested-2011-national-assembly-election CAR: Parties that contested the 2011 National Assembly election
Arthur Banks, Thomas C Muller, William R Overstreet & Judith F Isacoff (2009) Political Handbook of the World 2009, CQ Press, p236
http://africanelections.tripod.com/cf.html Elections in the Central African Republic
http://www.panapress.com/14-register-to-contest-presidential-election-in-CAR--12-559464-135-lang2-index.html 14 register to contest presidential election in CAR
http://www.content.eisa.org.za/old-page/car-number-national-assembly-candidates-party-2011-election CAR: Number of National Assembly candidates by party in the 2011 election
Tom Lansford (2014) Political Handbook of the World 2014, CQ Press, p254