After seizing power, Bozizé initially said he would not run in a planned future presidential election, but after the successful constitutional referendum, he announced his intention to stand as a candidate on 11 December:

He had planned to submit a revised programme on December 12, 2003, but on December 11, Bozizé dismissed him as Prime Minister.

Bozizé appointed Abel Goumba as Prime Minister soon after seizing power in March, later making him vice-president in December and appointing Célestin Gaombalet in his place as prime minister.

Bozizé also suspended the country's 1995 constitution after seizing power, and a new constitution, reportedly similar to the old one, was approved by voters in a referendum on 5 December 2004.

On 30 December 2004, Bozizé was one of five candidates approved to run in the presidential election scheduled for early 2005.

Goumba, who was President of the Patriotic Front for Progress ( FPP ) political party, served under President François Bozizé as Prime Minister from March 2003 to December 2003 and then as Vice-President from December 2003 to March 2005.

According to presidential spokesman Alain-George Ngatoua, this was because the constitution adopted in December 2004 did not provide for a Vice-President, and the dismissal was unrelated to the quality of Goumba's work ; Ngatoua said that Bozizé thanked Goumba for facilitating the transitional process through his " wisdom and courage ".

Despite having no political experience, Gaombalet was appointed as Prime Minister by President François Bozizé on December 12, 2003, replacing Abel Goumba, who in turn became Bozizé's vice-president.

Eventually, following a referendum on a new constitution on December 5, 2004, Bozizé announced his candidacy in the presidential election as an independent candidate on December 11, 2004, while speaking to supporters.

Abel Goumba also ran as the candidate of the Patriotic Front for Progress ( Front patriotique pour le progrès ); a long-time politician, he served as prime minister in the late 1950s and again from March to December 2003, following Bozizé's seizure of power, subsequently becoming vice-president under Bozizé until being dismissed shortly after the first round of the election.

On December 30, the transitional constitutional court decided that all but five candidates — Bozizé, André Kolingba, Abel Goumba, Henri Pouzère, and former minister Auguste Boukanga — would be excluded from running for various reasons.

Fidèle Gouandjika, who took less than 1 % of the vote in the 1999 presidential election, withdrew in favor of Bozizé on December 23.

Due to failure to curb deepening unrest in the northern part of the country, Gambi was in July 2006 replaced with Bozizé ’ s old friend from the military academy, Jules Bernard Ouandé.

The National Assembly authorized Bozizé to rule by decree for three months, from 1 January to 31 March 2006 ; his Prime Minister, Élie Doté, said that this period of rule by decree was successful, enabling Bozizé to take measures to streamline the civil service.

After General François Bozizé overthrew Patassé and proclaimed himself president, Dacko participated in the Dialogue National ( National Dialogue ) that began on September 9, 2003, but shortly thereafter, on September 27, 2003, Dacko had an attack of asthma.

He met with Bozizé and effectively endorsed the takeover, saying that Bozizé was trustworthy because he had expressed a " vision " of " openness " and " reconciliation ".

On May 24, 2004, Bozizé approved 30 members of CEMI who had been chosen by three groups: political parties, professional groups, and the national administration.

Bozizé gave an interview to Radio France Internationale on May 17 in which he refused to say whether or not he would run, but he confirmed that Konaré had spoken to him about it, while criticizing Konaré for what he called interference in the country's affairs, and wondering whether he had consulted the opinions of the Central African people before getting involved.

On May 24, Jean Willybiro Sako announced that Bozizé had won the presidential election with 64. 6 % of the vote.

Ziguélé tried to have Bozizé's victory invalidated, claiming that soldiers had forced or intimidated people into voting for Bozizé, but this was rejected by the constitutional court.

His appointment as Prime Minister by President François Bozizé on 13 June 2005, following a presidential and parliamentary election, was considered surprising ; Doté, who had previously been working outside the country in Tunis for the ADB, was at the time largely unknown in CAR.

On 18 January 2008, it was announced that Doté and his government had resigned and Bozizé had accepted the resignation.

On 8 May 2005, Bozizé gained yet a further victory when his coalition, Convergence Kwa Na Kwa, won 42 parliamentary seats in the legislative run-off vote.

Since 2003, when President François Bozizé came to power, thousands of citizens of the Central African Republic have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the escalating conflict between armed rebels and government troops.

Fighting erupted when the government tried to arrest Bozizé on 3 November ; after five days of this, government forces aided by Libyan troops captured the barracks where Bozizé was based, and Bozizé fled north to Chad.

Ange-Félix Patassé ( January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011 ) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé.

He left office when rebel leader François Bozizé took power upon capturing the capital, Bangui, on 15 March 2003.

Bozizé then fled to Chad and gathered a group of rebellions.

Despite these shortcomings, and his promise to step down at the end of the transition, Bozizé contested the 13 March 2005 presidential elections in which all of the leading opposition candidates were allowed to run except for Patassé.

Bozizé, who has received much support from President Déby, immediately decided to close the C. A. R .- Sudan border ( a decision which he has no capacity at all to enforce ).

Following Dacko's ouster by André Kolingba in September 1981, Bozizé was appointed Minister of Communications, but fled to the north of the country with 100 soldiers after his involvement in a failed coup attempt led by Ange-Félix Patassé on 3 March 1982, in which he accused Kolingba of treason and proclaimed the change of power on Radio Bangui.

Kolingba finally returned to Bangui on 5 October 2003 during the last days of a National Conference ( Dialogue National ) which Bozizé sponsored to promote reconciliation and reconstruction of the country.

Bozizé sharply criticized the seven candidates in a speech in the city of Mobaye on January 15, which was carried on state radio, accusing them of " nothing more or less than sorcery " and " madness, bad faith, coupled with a dose of misinformation ".

On January 22, the matter was effectively resolved through the signing by Bozizé and his rivals of an agreement in Libreville, which allowed all the candidates except Patassé to participate and brought the total number of candidates to 11.

In the 2005 parliamentary election, the party won three seats in the National Assembly as part of the National Convergence Kwa Na Kwa coalition, which supports President François Bozizé.

Bozizé has since been elected President in an election considered by observers to be fair and free.

It has hence been considered disloyal by the two northerner presidents Patassé and Bozizé, both of whom have equipped and run their own militias outside FACA.

Although Francois Bozizé has a background in FACA himself ( being its chief-of-staff from 1997 to 2001 ), he has been cautious by retaining the defence portfolio, as well as by appointing his son Jean-Francis Bozizé cabinet director in charge of running the Ministry of Defence.

President François Bozizé has said that one of his priorities is to get the support of the international community.

Bozizé has surprisingly good relations both with the DRC President Joseph Kabila and the former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Bozizé has strengthened military presence along the border and deployed an amphibious force patrolling the Ubangi river.

It is not known whether these agreements are still valid, but Bozizé has anyway a continuously good relation with Libya.

Given that Bozizé accuses Sudan of supporting the UFDR rebels who are actively fighting the Central African Government, the relation between the two countries has remained good.

In addition to being President, Bozizé has been Minister of National Defense since taking power.