Incumbent favoured, opposition claims irregularities as polling ends

AFP - Voters cast their ballots Sunday in the Central African Republic's presidential and parliamentary polls, with incumbent President Francois Bozize widely expected to retain power amid charges of fraud.
              
Polls opened well behind the scheduled time of 6:00 am (0500 GMT) in many parts of the country of 4.5 million people and were set to close at 1500 GMT.
              
But in the capital Bangui, voting was extended by several hours in many polling stations visited by AFP correspondents.
              
Security forces were keeping a close watch as people lined up to cast their ballots.
              
Some 1,500 national and international observers were on hand to scrutinise the double vote in a country rich in raw materials such as diamonds, gold, and wood.
              
Provisional results are expected over the next week, after which the constitutional court has a fortnight to validate them or voice objections.
              
Already the opposition has denounced irregularities, particularly the circulation of fake polling cards and the late posting of electoral lists.
              
The polls come after a generally peaceful campaign without much mobilisation of the 1.8 million voters.
              
Bozize, who took power in a coup in 2003 and then won elections two years later, presented himself as a "builder" who guaranteed peace and said his record spoke for itself.
              
However former prime minister Martin Ziguele has charged that false voter registration cards have been in circulation for months.
              
Bozize's four opponents include Ziguele as well as former president Ange-Felix Patasse and former defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth.
              
Patasse, seen as Bozize's main challenger, is trying to make a comeback after being ousted by the incumbent in 2003.
              
He has predicted that "Bozize will fiddle 10 or 20 percent of the vote, but it doesn't matter, I'll beat him anyway." His spokesman Guy Simplice Kodegue said he plans to lodge a complaint to the independent election commission.
              
Bozize has dismissed allegations of fraud, blaming the opposition for delaying the elections from their original planned date of April last year.
              
The United Nations on Friday urged credible and transparent elections, the culmination of a two-year-process in the impoverished nation with a history of coups and rebellions.
              
The polls come after a generally peaceful campaign without much mobilisation of the 1.8 million voters.
              
"I want work. And for that, we need peace and security," said Gervain Koufeu, a 26-year-old street vendor who said he earns betwen nine and 18 euros a day.