Landlocked country in Central Africa,
bordered NE and E by the Sudan, S by Zaire
and the Congo, W by Cameroon, and NW by Chad.
government After a coup in Sept 1981, the
constitution of Feb the same year was
suspended and all executive and legislative
powers placed in the hands of a Military
Commitee for National Recovery (CMRN). Four
years later CMRN was dissolved and a new
22-member council of ministers, composed of
both military and civilian members, was
established. The president is head of both
state and government and presides over the
council of ministers. All political activity
has been banned since the coup but the main
opposition groups, although passive, still
exist. They are the Patriotic Front Ubangi
Workers' Party (FPO-PT), the Central African
Movement for National Liberation (MCLN), and
the Movement for the Liberation of the
Central African People (MPLC). A new
constitution was approved by referendum 1986,
providing for a 52-member national assembly
elected for a five-year term at the summons
of the president. Despite this manifesto,
however, the country remains under military
rule. history A French colony from the late
19th century, the territory of Ubangi-Shari
became self-governing within French
Equatorial Africa in 1958 and two years later
achieved full independence. Barthelemy
Boganda, who had founded the Movement for the
Social Evolution of Black Africa (MESAN), had
been a leading figure in the campaign for
independence and became the country's first
prime minister. A year before full
independence he was killed in an air crash
and was succeeded by his nephew, David Dacko,
who became president in 1960, and in 1962
established a one-party state, with MESAN as
the only political organization. Dacko was
overthrown in a military coup in Dec 1965 and
the commander-in-chief of the army, Colonel
Jean-Bedel Bokassa, assumed power. Bokassa
annulled the constitution and made himself
president-for-life in 1972, and marshal of
the Republic in 1974. An authoritarian regime
was established and in 1976 ex-president
Dacko was recalled to be the president's
personal adviser. At the end of that year the
republic was restyled the Central African
Empire (CAE) and in 1977 Bokassa was crowned
emperor at a lavish ceremony his country
could ill afford. His rule became
increasingly dictatorial and idiosyncratic,
leading to revolts by students and, in Apr
1979, by school children who objected to the
compulsory wearing of school uniforms, made
by a company owned by the Bokassa family.
Many of the children were imprisoned and it
is estimated that at least 100 were killed,
with the emperor allegedly personally
involved. In Sept 1979, while Bokassa was in
Libya, Dacko ousted him in a bloodless coup,
backed by France. The country became a
republic again, with Dacko as president. He
initially retained a number of Bokassa's
former ministers but, following student
unrest, they were dropped and in Feb 1981 a
new constitution was adopted, with an elected
national assembly. Dacko was elected
president for a six-year term in Mar but
opposition to him grew and in Sept 1981 he
was deposed in another bloodless coup, led by
the armed forces' Chief of Staff, General
Andre Kolingba. The constitution and all
political organizations were suspended, and a
military government installed. Undercover
opposition to the Kolingba regime continued,
with some French support, but relations with
France were improved by an unofficial visit
by President Mitterrand in Oct 1982. By 1984
there was evidence of a gradual return to
constitutional government. The leaders of the
banned political parties were granted an
amnesty and at the end of the year the French
president paid a state visit. In Jan 1985
proposals for a new constitution were
announced and in Sept civilians were included
into Kolingba's administration.