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. 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 long-time 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.
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