“The aim of this paper is to provide an account and analysis of the June and July 2005 presidential elections. The Paper begins with a brief account of the peacebuilding process which culminated in Presidential Elections. It covers the period from the September 2003 coup d’etat, the transitional arrangements, legislative elections, and the post presidential elections period. The background focus is on factors which may have been conducive to violence in the run-up to the presidential elections; whether or not the pre-conditions for staging free and fair elections were met; and why previous peacebuilding attempts have failed. This is followed by an overview of the candidates and their reactions to victory and defeat. The paper concludes by highlighting those issues, which if not properly tackled, could result in the recurrence of violence and ruin any possibility of post election stability.”
