Bangui mayor elected Central African Republic's interim president

Catherine Samba-Panza, mayor of Bangui, was elected as interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR) in a vote at the parliament on Monday.

Samba-Panza, 54, was elected with 75 out of 129 votes in a secret ballot by members of the National Transition Council (CNT, transition parliament).

She won the presidency in a second round vote after defeating Bilal Desire Nzanga-Kolingba, son of ex-president Andre Kolingba.

Samba-Panza is the first woman elected to the top post of the country since its independence in 1960. Criticized for inability to end the violence that plunged the Central African Republic into security and humanitarian chaos for several months, ex-Transition President Michel Djotodia and his Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye were forced to resign on Jan. 10 during an extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in Chad.

Since then, the CNT president Alexandre-Ferdinand Nguendet has been serving as the interim president, a position for 15 days in accordance with the provisions of the country's Constitutional Charter adopted in July 2013.

Once elected, the new president is expected to appoint a prime minister, who is to form a government of national unity in accordance with the Libreville agreement that was signed in January 2013.