On 15 March 2003 rebels who controlled part of the country moved into Bangui and installed their commander, General François Bozizé, as president, while President Patassé was out of the country.

Bozizé won on the second run-off round on 8 May 2005, defeating Martin Ziguélé, who ran on the ticket of the MLPC, the former ruling party.

The government was deposed in 15 March 2003 by forces under the rebel leader François Bozizé, who promised elections in 18 to 30 months.

in negotiating a peace agreement was signed in Tripoli in February 2007, between President Bozizé and the head of the Front démocratique du people centrafricain ( FDPC ) rebel movement ( who is also said to have close ties to Union of Democratic Forces for Unity ( UFDR ), the rebel group that seized several cities in northern C. A. R.

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.

With General Josyhat Mayomokala, Bozizé ordered military personnel to attack young demonstrators who were asking for their parents ' arrears.

Facing a general strike over wage arrears for civil servants in January 2008, Bozizé appointed a new government headed by Faustin-Archange Touadéra, an academic figure who was politically unknown.

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.

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.

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.

Former president Ange-Félix Patassé, who was overthrown by Bozizé, was excluded from running.

A run-off election between Bozizé, who won the most votes in the first round according to official results, and Martin Ziguélé, a former prime minister under Patassé, was held, and Bozizé won this second round with 64. 6 % of the vote.

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.

In November 2004, former president Ange-Félix Patassé, who presently lives in exile in Togo following his 2003 ouster by Bozizé, was nominated as the presidential candidate of his party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People ( Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain, MLPC ).

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

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.

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.

Bozizé even planned to visit Khartoum in December 2006, but had to cancel his trip when Chad ( which has strained relations with the Sudanese Government ) threatened to withdraw its military support to C. A. R.

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

About 5, 000 people walked in Bangui on June 19 to support his candidacy ; Bozizé thanked them and asked for time to reflect.

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.

On March 15, before the election results became available, Bozizé dismissed Goumba from the Vice-Presidency and the position was abolished.

He faced Bozizé in a second round of voting, and tried to distance himself from Patassé in campaigning, but was defeated and took 35. 4 % of the vote.

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.

Partial results ( 28. 9 % of polling stations, or 1, 198 out of 4, 145 stations ) from the election on March 18 put Bozizé in the lead with about 55 % of the votes, according to the election commission: 184, 734 out of 334, 732 votes counted were for Bozizé.

Early results from CEMI on May 12 showed Bozizé with a strong lead.

Subsequently, partial results from CEMI on May 16 showed Bozizé with slightly more than 60 % of the total vote, according to results from 1, 698 of the country's 4, 161 polling stations.

* François Bozizé, the current president of the Central African Republic, is from Mouila.

During the election in 2005, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso openly supported Bozizé.

* 2003 – President Ange-Felix Patasse is overthrown in a coup by François Bozizé

** François Bozizé, President of the Central African Republic

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.

In 2010, President François Bozizé issued a decree rehabilitating Bokassa and calling him " a son of the nation recognised by all as a great builder ".

François Bozizé Yangouvonda ( born 14 October 1946 ) is the President of the Central African Republic.

After the overthrow of Patassé, self-proclaimed President François Bozizé declared an amnesty for all those involved in the attempted coup d ' état of 2001.

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.