The long-delayed voter list for the presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic was published here on Saturday, less than 24 hours before the opening of the polls.
The country has completed preparations for the elections with five contenders concluding their campaigns on Friday, mostly in the capital Bangui, where concentrate 1 million people out of the total population of 4.5 million.
The five candidates include incumbent President Francois Bozize, ex-president Ange-Felix Patasse who is an independent candidate, ex-prime minister Martin Ziguele of the Movement for the Liberation of Central African People (MLPC), ex-head of rebels Jean Jacques Demafouth of the People's Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) and Gros Raymond Nakombo of the New Progressive Alliance (ANP).
A total of 868 politicians will compete for the 105 seats in the National Assembly (parliament).
According to the presidential decree issued last week, there will be 4,370 polling stations across the country and 1.8 million eligible voters registered to cast ballots.
The Central African Republic is expected to end years of instability after the polls.