AFP - The body organising elections in Central African Republic said Thursday it would be unable to hold legislative and presidential polls scheduled for May 16.

The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) "is obliged to say that it cannot technically organise the elections within the scheduled timeframe," spokesman Rigobert Vondo said.

Vondo spoke during a meeting of political parties and former rebel groups called by President Francois Bozize.

He said the commission would not even have time to complete new voting lists in time for the elections.

The opposition Forces of Change Collective has already announced it was boycotting the polls on the ground they were being held in "conditions that do not guarantee credibility, reliability and transparence."

The opposition said the destitute country, wracked by insurgency for decades, would not be ready to go to the polls even after Bozize had ordered them put back from April 25 to the May 16 date.

Years of unrest has hampered the country's economy's and it remains one of the world's poorest.

Armed groups remain active, including the Lord's Resistance Army from neighbouring Uganda, which has sent its troops into the country to track down the rebels. Tens of thousands of refugees from the CAR have fled to neighbouring Chad to escape the violence.

Bozize, in power since he ousted president Patasse in 2003, won the last presidential election in 2005 with about two-thirds of the vote.