and that's why the confrontation with the opposition is unlikely to end anytime soon. that he said will and deceit are. again i'm fully back to go with the headlines on al-jazeera gulf leaders have signed a declaration to restore full diplomatic ties with kata and end their 3 and a half year blockade emotion calling for solidarity and stability was agreed at a summit in saudi arabia attended by the emir of qatar at least $23.00 pro-democracy politicians have been arrested in hong kong for violating the national security law they're accused of subversion for taking part in unofficial election primaries in july china declared the poles illegal and 100 cells thousands broke the law adrian brown has mass market. we have confirmation that 23 activists have been arrested but there are also reports from local media yet to be

independently confirmed that up to 50 activists may well have been detained in a drone sweep by hong kong police on wednesday morning now reached attentions come interestingly just a day after the retiring chief justice of home kong spoke with libya and to categorically insist that he has never come under question could be beijing or the hong kong government to rule a certain way in certain cases. polls have closed in iran off election in the us state of georgia that could have a crucial impact on joe biden's powers us president voting has been extended in some places the vote to choose a set the state's 2 senate members will decide the balance of power in congress for the entire country in the u.s. a police officer who shot a black man 7 times in the u.s. state of wisconsin in august will not face criminal charges. jake a break in the back leaving him paralyzed from the waist down incident led to

deadly protests across the u.s. last year. the u.k. has reported more than 60000 coronavirus cases in a day for the 1st time on monday the government announced a new national law england in some parts of the country and estimated one in 50 people now have called 19 and venezuela's president nicolas maduro has tightened his grip on power with the swearing in of a national assembly controlled by socialist it marks the end of control by the opposition who boycotted last month's election because they said it was neither free nor fair opposition leader is recognized by several nations as the country's interim leader and instead lead a virtual opposition congress. those are the headlines coming up next on its inside story to stay with us.

the president of central african republic wins a 2nd term but the opposition says the election was neither free nor fair so can the president united country divided by a civil war and a humanitarian crisis this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. the central african republic president has been reelected in a vote marred by violence and intimidation the electoral commission says fast on our congress to a day or a 153 percent of the ballots last sunday he avoids

a 2nd round run off with opposition candidates who say the vote was flawed many polling stations didn't open on election day rebels are reported to have attacked voters and staff and groups allied with former president francois boise's they seized a town 20 kilometers from the capital bangui prosecutors are investigating whether it was easy trying to disrupt the ballot. people don't need weapons to take power you've suffered so much the president has done his best to bring the country forward in 5 years that's why central african voted for him. i support another party i'm with the l.t.c. office group but if the president won it's because he deserves it he's a man who's fought for this nicolas hawke has been following the latest developments from the car. in a press conference archrival to twitter on shows and you see don't look good he says that the president has not won the popular vote adding to the 8 other candidates who have launched a complaint to the election commission saying that there were not enough people

that came out to vote only half of the electorate came out to vote 900000 people and half of the polling stations were open only 2000 of them that's because most of the country is now in the control or in the hands of armed groups they're just 20 kilometers away from the capital bangui they come to themselves the coalition for patriotic change they say that president is not respecting the peace agreement they want more of a say in the country's future and more money meanwhile in the capital of benghazi there are russian fighters who are trying to secure the capital adding to that they are the rwandan troops sent by president calderon may to support the u.n. peacekeeping force of 12000 people despite all of these troops on the ground while the armed groups are are continuing to make their advances towards the capital caught in all of this of course are the people of the central african republic live in a country the size of france rich in oil diamond and minerals and yet most of them

live in dire poverty most of it live on less than $2.00 a day and this country has become the battleground between russia and the west notably france the former colonial power now this election is supposed to resolve all of this but so far it has failed to do so. well discuss all this with our panel in a moment but 1st let's take a closer look at the country's background the central african republic has been struggling with violence since 2013 when a predominantly muslim rebel group the seleka seized power and ousted the president francois was easy since then subsequent waves of violence have worsened leading to the deployment of about $12000.00 u.n. peacekeepers to support african union and french troops a year later in 2019 a peace deal was signed between the government and 14 armed groups but the violence didn't end and instead intensified the conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. all right let's bring in

our guests in brussels peter konopka is a fellow at the institute for justice and reconciliation a south africa based think tank and a former dutch diplomat in london michael amoa is a senior visiting fellow at the fit was lousy center for africa at the london school of economics welcome to the program michael let me start with you today you know it had been reported that definitive results from this election were not expected before january 18th but you know we've already heard from the electoral commission they announced that president 2 of their got 53 percent of the vote in the 1st round is this is surprise and if so what changed well 1st of all it's not that it's not a surprise i mean best know many votes to count there was only about 110000 registered voters so that's no camps and those so perhaps there wasn't. far about us any potential all or on the jewish you know it actual

practice so we would have imagined i was a pretty straightforward thing to do. peter does not have the right. all right thanks michael peter did unrest keep fodor's from going to the polls. yes in quite a number of places there was there was it wasn't secure it wasn't safe there was unrest so there has been. at least 14 out of i think it was 80 different regions there was no possibility for people to go and vote so yes yes and yes michael the opposition had tried to delay this election will they accept the result i mean what happens next. well i think the opposition is initially complaining that maybe perhaps there were some that are

a fraud however that hasn't been investigated does not mean it pressed together then it's not so much of a big deal. for this particular election i mean if you actually compare what happened the center of republic c. minus for example where some 700 point stations could not operate and some 4000 or other places there were destruct in a myth bomb scare and mortar shells in could our region from arcady that if you compare that to happen essentially a republic you could actually say that central african republic did my expect at. what happens next really is that now that election is no law and the states is firmly place the governess issue has been settled and you have an exit elected to make a recognised common place and the main thing to happen next really is see how the plan to go after the rebel movements it's really busy is

a and all the other rebel factions because the center of the republic really house quite a large swath of you know a totally not under government control forest areas however in rebel groups and if we don't deal with these rebel groups they're going to be causing havoc some time so it's quiet it's actually a good thing that a lot of international actors are playing rwanda who wouldn't be perhaps the yields plaints. russian or kind of than contributing troops nothing that let's be really star all these troops you know well reinforce the southeast keep some muscle really concentrates on a long term plan to actually deal with rebel movement level to local functions was either way. the long term plan about what to do about you know that i think unhappy that i'm his son is dead. peter if i could ask you to expand

a little bit on the point that michael was making i mean 1st can we can we talk a little bit about these armed groups i mean you know who are the groups that comprise these 14 groups well there's a there's a whole range but they they're there's 2 major camps if you there is the of the black and the eccentric. and the eccentric roughly speaking are the muslim groups from north woods east and the west and the on the block a are the groups the christian on the miss groups rather more south and central that came into existence as a response mechanism to the to the seleka that marched into bunky some 67 years ago. so those are the but but there is within those 2 different those 2 people is there is there's

a variety of different groups that compete between each other that compete over territory that have their you know their their. confrontations between each other but also have their sort of confines the territory where they rule and are the major player know it steve. it is the accomplishment of so there. needs to be recognized for that too that he has brought all these 14 plays to that they will and has signed a peace agreement that initially is that's your community and many many others were delta and it would hold but it did for a long time until april april this year and you lections played a very important part in in disrupting the very very peace deal michael i saw you nodding to some of what peter was saying there did you want to jump in yes

perhaps that you know. we could ask that. well if this is if the current peace deal is going to be expiring this year africa has said then obviously we cannot another am really renegotiation is quite important to know though that one of the peace deal that has been signed in the past where 2012900 in the central african republic. never ever have to sign of oxygen. packie because the rebel factions and under control so in the long term really if you're looking to another piece to that would vote in the long term you actually want to have a scenario where you actually have the republicans under control you know who to deal with them and for once you know someone has the groups that you know causing havoc and destructive governance the center left wing probably is not the

kind of game that can play any longer. and i think that missy at least go out course quite strongly so between now and the next deal perhaps merely what's interested passwords really think about this how best we can plan effectively the real ones you do with the rebel groups and actually that in their business because the longer a gate they are about interact with the governed i sense that with that kind of army peter fumes a few moments ago you were talking about you know the fact that president to i dare you believed deserves some recognition for some of his efforts i want to ask you this do you believe he's going to be able to unite a very divided central african republic. extrude many concerns extremely conservative but try to imagine what happened. in early 2019 of every 2019 days these 14 groups signed the b.c.b. . part of the peace agreement was that they took up positions government positions

in bunky now the next thing you know there's elections these people knew from the very start that they would make it they were instant chance in the elections so to keep to keep their positions to to to keep the positions that they were a foot in the piece do they need to that they needed to do something that none of them participated in the elections as a candidate so they needed to do something and to have to to make sure that they will keep some of the power some of the influence some of the positions that they head they took the arms. and i'm not sure if 2 are there will have the opposition and the men date to bring these people back to do negotiations table and offer them a position again this is this is going to be the challenge are these people going to be. guaranteed to be convinced that they will be able to take

up positions within new form a new government that's going to be for michael what do you think will president to an arab be able to unite the country going forward i think that the broader mandate for breaking the past again you know i came on a business of the u.n. with some assistance from not in years. and i think back template will be used to come forward i mean the current president who remain presidents however i think vienna you know haven't been commanded to bring the past you know far out of the u.n. and i think that. perhaps you were at the table is when he released talk seriously about whether it's actually feasible and how much political room is given to the rebel factions and the very least you know if there's going to be any room for them to sit around the governance table we also need to think about

disarmament it's as a precondition for that michael let me interrupt you and just ask you a quick follow up how much of the country is actually under the control of these armed groups well let's just say that perhaps about. at least 70 percent of the country is not under government control let's put it that way precisely how much is the ram rebel control that uses relevant central africa african republic is debatable because some of these areas also occupied by rebel factions that are written elsewhere we have the losses army and the decision cody this really targeted uganda we have rebel factions in this say terry tree also type in south sudan we have rebel factions also playing games with your our csa basically come to rely on d r c south sudan the key countries around since lovecraft was partly how the rebel

groups that are all stationed the center left under army so i mean it's come back to question at least some percent of the country is not government control but then not on the rebel factions out pretty now gates said left they've become economists a pavement and i actually notice for senseless for the sake of all the other countries around to live for the a yearly something really nice to be done about being on regulate that forests regions in central 970 peter the constitutional court rejected former president bush is as presidential candidacy they said that he did not satisfy the good morality requirement because of an arrest warrant and un sanctions against him for allegedly ordering assassinations torture and other crimes when he was president what is going to happen with these investigations against the former president i mean are prosecutions going to be carried out. well that's the idea yes well that

will they be able to do it is difficult to say but the idea is to bring them to justice. and i think the constitutional court kudo otherwise then you know what they did their divorce they took was the it was the only or think they could take what loses a bid to become treatment to. use the disc as also starting points on many of the of the conflicts that they're still. in. now on the points of the of the new territory that is on the control of the government the interesting thing is that when the 2019 peace agreement was signed the the the whole of a sudden suddenly big the bigger much bigger chunk old governor of the territory was on his approach control of the government because the government changed in his composition the rebel the 14 rebel groups joined the government

and then by definition obviously control of the government off the territory was much bigger and look at what the elections elections did is disturb the process that's what happened so today suddenly the government has no home for old over the territory because the rebel groups are no longer part of the government so if the big issue now will be well that the rebel groups rejoin the government of the elections yes or no. and that is that is a very delicate. situation a process that will be seeing over to the next couple months michael how much of a disruptor can the former president be i mean how how powerful does he remain. well not too powerful but then that's only because he has now joined up with the

rebels in 2012 for example the same. picture top picture it's coalition for chains the current rebel you know where the coalition in 2012 where actually and local society against it was ease a bit had another name then called quotation patriots c.g.a. for justice some other name and was easy it was a case them and they were not able to agree to something else and then the coup took place so now it was easy has joints. the rebel factions if you like and that has kind of empowered him to with an expense the extent of his power would depend on whether the rebel factions wants to incorporate him as happened bit chess game going forward but particularly now that he has some specific you know allegations leveled against him. he's going to penalty i slipped

in the proceedings you visit going to be in the seat around the table to renegotiate i'm lucky still was he there will not be a violet candidates to sit around the table. and i think the rebel factions will be aware of that one of the difficulties really is that i did the peace deal whether in 2099 a future one of the things that the rebels are actually asking for is not just handing governance but also dacs. yeah troops will be our ability to knock on the. last is this is a very difficult to talk to our chief because. these enough basically are on the front of the next. it's something which is quite difficult to count exactly how you would not allow more space for that peter i want to take a look at the humanitarian crisis that's enveloping the country as well i mean the

u.n. says that over half the population in central african republic is in need of some form of humanitarian assistance i mean how worried are you that the dire the already dire humanitarian circumstances there are only going to worsen because of the the instability. yeah i know that the chances of that happening is is extremely high the political process will will be democrats but the humanitarian situation of all can be more delicate because the rebels don't forget the rebels do not necessarily presents the people they represent their own interests not much more than than the interests of the people so the people have suffered. in the hensel to the rebels. and they will continue to do suffer as long as the whole process is not going to come to an outcome. for her and impulse of the outcome during all true 2019 and defers bits of 2020 the violence came

down in the number of incidents came down the peace the peace diffidence as a result of the of the peace agreement will stare at the people who are relieved it was some form of going back to normal and as me just said a d.d.r. and we call city action was supposed to be part of the of the peace of movement of the d.d.r. that this demobilization disarmament and reintegration of some of the rebels he's a process that has started out but there's also the feeling amongst the people that that is giving a. price a a a bonus for being a rebel so to the population also wanted to profit from from the east and the recall ca it hasn't started partly because of the cove and the grown up partly

because you know some of the he's these processes are slow processes so. so my honest. opinion is is that the elections were too early. to observe that i mean and that and the public the general population is so. michael if the situation continues to worsen if the violence continues i want to ask you a similar question how much worse does a good for civilians because you know violence against civilians and humanitarian workers in central african republic is still quite high isn't it yes it is thought quite high and that kind of asked more to be easy curiosity. of the city and it hasn't been confidence in government wasn't even aware of you know helps to give us the written piece. one of the things that beats probably

need to know is actually perhaps maybe. revising our men in the monday of the u.s. forces there because usually the general peacekeeping minded is basically just to keep the peace but i think if we look at the road that the u.n. troops played a few days before the elections was more like peace of force maybe whether a lot of the rebels were actually advice and towards the capital position themselves or vantage point just to make sure that we took the rebels on a and to a lot of actions to happen but what are police and foursomes and that's the sort of thing that's sort of corrective activity that you expect that the troops should also be playing i think perhaps maybe irish another month it is necessary if you know the country there is going to be able to actually deal with rebel factions and have the security problems. all right we just have about

a minute left peter let me just ask you very quickly i know it's a big question but again we only have about a minute left one of the regional implications of continued violence and as security and sort of after public. stay huge course you. don't forget just you know as as my colleague just said bill some of these regional pows are playing their own game because we bought it so there's there's a lot at play you know if if this use is security new. fighters is giving an opportunity to some of the neighboring states to regain deposition. we take. their position it will it will be. tremendously. he said a bet or or not just said but. all right we've run out of times we're going to have

to leave the conversation there thanks so much to our guests peter can open and michael. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website at 0 dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter we're at at a.j. inside story for me mamma don't ruin the whole thing here by for now. ok calm and make sure you're not hyping the situation be part of the debate my main

characters are women and when no topic is off the table the law is in the last allow child marriage to happen legally these are basically archaic walls dads often legitimize and legal one is pedophile. online jump into the conversation and leaching to the what else did this stream own out is there. a policy imposed decades ago woman part that she would select to be goods and when he boards changing demographics across asia with far reaching consequences you're creating a pool of socially disadvantaged young men so you have the system where people at every level will be get being given money money to agree to start as a ship or money to get other people to be the services out there examines the politics of population control thought of the plan for more dollars on the long

haul we are the while traveling the extra mile where all the media don't go we go there and we give them a chance to tell their story. in doha with a look at our main stories on al-jazeera breaking news 1st from hong kong where it leads 23 pro-democracy politicians and activists have been arrested for violating the national security law is the largest crackdown against the opposition since the law was imposed last year they're accused of subversion for taking part in unofficial election primaries in july china declared the poles illegal and warned hundreds of thousands who took part could have broken the law. who is on the line from hong kong so adrian what more can you tell us about these arrests and how sick .