A second round was held for both elections on May 8, marking the end of the transitional process that began with the seizure of power by François Bozizé in a March 2003 coup, overthrowing President Ange-Félix Patassé.

The presidential elections saw Bozizé attempt to win a five-year term after two years as transitional leader, alongside ten other candidates, with Patassé excluded from running.

In the simultaneous parliamentary elections, the National Convergence "Kwa Na Kwa" party emerged as the largest in the National Assembly, winning 42 of the 105 seats, whilst the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People emerged as the second-largest party with 12 seats.

He cited what he considered the will of the people in his decision: Ten other candidates also contested the presidential election, including one former president and three former prime ministers.

[6] Abel Goumba also ran as the candidate of the Patriotic Front for Progress (Front patriotique pour le progrès); a long-time politician, he served as prime minister in the late 1950s and again from March to December 2003, following Bozizé's seizure of power, subsequently becoming vice-president under Bozizé until being dismissed shortly after the first round of the election.

The other candidates were former defense minister Jean-Jacques Démafouth, the lawyer Henri Pouzère, who was previously a presidential candidate in 1999, then taking about 4% of the vote,[6] Charles Massi of the Democratic Forum for Modernity (Forum démocratique pour la modernité), also a 1999 candidate, then taking a little over 1% of the vote,[6] Olivier Gabirault of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress (l'Alliance pour la démocratie et le progrès), Auguste Boukanga of the Union for Renewal and Development (l'Union pour la Renaissance et le développement) and Pasteur Josué Binoua.

Earlier in the year, Alpha Oumar Konaré, the chairman of the commission of the African Union and former president of Mali, reportedly urged Bozizé not to stand for election.

About 5,000 people walked in Bangui on June 19 to support his candidacy;[11] Bozizé thanked them and asked for time to reflect.

[12] In November 2004, former president Ange-Félix Patassé, who was living in exile in Togo following his 2003 ousting by Bozizé, was nominated as the presidential candidate of his party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain, MLPC).

[14] On December 30, the transitional constitutional court decided that all but five candidates—Bozizé, André Kolingba, Abel Goumba, Henri Pouzère, and former minister Auguste Boukanga—would be excluded from running for various reasons.

[16] The other candidates who were rejected were Martin Ziguélé, Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Charles Massi, Olivier Gabirault, and Pasteur Josué Binoua.

[17] Joseph Bendounga, a former mayor of Bangui and an opponent of Bozizé's transitional government, announced his withdrawal on the morning of December 30 because he could not pay the required guarantee of five million CFA francs;[15] he had been named as a candidate by his party, the Democratic Movement for Renewal and Development in Central Africa, in May 2004.

This did not resolve the dispute, however, and the three he approved refused to accept his validation of their candidacies, accusing Bozizé of trying to divide the opposition.

All seven of the initially barred candidates continued to demand the dissolution of the court and also put forward a request for the invalidation of Bozizé's own candidacy.

[20] A few days later, Bozizé fired the justice minister, Lea Koyassoum-Doumta (also secretary-general of Ngoupandé's party), after she made a statement critical of the government.

[21] Bozizé sharply criticized the seven candidates in a speech in the city of Mobaye on January 15, which was carried on state radio, accusing them of "nothing more or less than sorcery" and "madness, bad faith, coupled with a dose of misinformation".

He further said that, in contrast to them, his policy "does not aim at destroying the country, it is not based on violence, lies, betrayal, manipulation or strikes".

[26] An official list of candidates, including 11 of them and excluding only Patassé, was published by the election commission on January 26, following the agreement.

[30] The opposition Union of Active Forces of the Nation (l'Union des forces vives de la Nation, UFVN), a grouping of Bozizé's rivals, denounced the elections on the grounds of alleged fraud and irregularities, and it called for the elections to be declared null.

[35] Theoretically, as all the opposition candidates (except Auguste Boukanga) were part of the UFVN, there was, based on the mathematical results of the first round, a majority against Bozizé.

Gaombalet resigned as prime minister after Bozizé's inauguration to take up his new post, and Élie Doté was appointed to replace him.