BANGUI (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC) - Independent candidate Faustin Archange Touadera took a commanding lead in the Central African Republic's presidential race on Sunday, garnering more than 23 percent of the vote with a quarter of the ballots counted, electoral officials said.
Central African presidential candidate Faustin Archange Touadera, pictured on December 28, 2015, garnered 23% of votes with a quarter of the ballots counted
The former prime minister and maths professor was considered an outsider in the field of 30 candidates vying in the election seen as vital to restoring stability after years of unrest in the former French colony.
Touadera, who served as prime minister under longtime leader Francois Bozize from 2008 until 2013, scored more than 120,000 votes, the elections authority's rapporteur Julius Ngouade Baba said.
His closest rival for the top job, Anicet Georges Dologuele, also a former prime minister, has scored just over 68,500 votes, while Desire Kolingba, son of a former president, has under 40,000 votes.
The results confirm early indications of Touadera's lead in the closely watched vote. A likely second round is set for January 31.
One of the world's poorest countries, with a history of coups and rebellions, Central African Republic was plunged into fierce sectarian unrest in 2013 after Bozize was ousted by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance.
Thousands of people were killed and around one in 10 fled their homes in attacks by rogue rebels on remote villages and brutal reprisals by Christian militia against Muslim communities.
UN and French peacekeepers helped restore a degree of calm in January 2014, when a transitional government took over, but large parts of the country remain lawless.