However, the opposition announced on 15 January 2010 that it was suspending its participation on the CEI due to its objections to Binguimale's leadership of the body.

Opposition leader Jean-Jacques Demafouth denounced Binguimale, saying that he was guilty of "breaching his oath, a total absence of independence, scheming with the aim of promoting massive fraud, dubious morality and notorious incompetence".

[6] However, the opposition coalition, the Forces of Change Collective, wanted a longer delay and felt that pushing the date back by three weeks was entirely insufficient to address its concerns.

Immediately following the meeting, Bozizé publicly accepted that the 16 May date could not be met: "We will go to the polls when all the parties involved in these elections, including the international community, will be ready."

Recognizing that the delay could mean that the election would be held after the constitutional end of his term on 11 June 2010, he said that the National Assembly would need to take the appropriate steps to enable him to continue in office beyond that point.

[10] An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people marched in Bangui on 19 May 2010 to express support for the move to extend Bozizé's term.

Speaking for the government, Fidele Ngouandjika expressed the hope that the broad political agreement on the January 2011 date would mean that international financial assistance for the election would come soon.

[4] As a result of the opposition coalition's decision to boycott the elections, only two presidential candidates submitted applications before the deadline: François Bozizé and Ange-Félix Patassé.

[19] Ultimately five candidates registered for the presidential elections:[20] Another candidate initially registered for the election, but was rejected on 8 January 2011 due to a bouncing cheque:[21] The CEI began work on an operation to revise the voter rolls on 12 April; the operation was planned to conclude on 18 April.

[23] President Bozizé was expected to win re-election easily; Patassé was considered the most formidable opposition candidate, but the outcome was never seriously doubted.

The CEI released provisional results on 1 February 2011 showing that Bozizé had won the election in the first round with 66.08% of the vote.

Patassé was credited with 20.10% of the vote, while the other candidates trailed with scores in the single digits: 6.46% for Ziguélé, 4.64% for Nakombo, and 2.72% for Démafouth.

Ngouandjika, the government's spokesman, declared that the outcome was "a victory for democracy"; Ziguélé, on the other hand, characterized the CEI's announcement as "a non-event ... crass and ridiculous".

[26] Bozizé was sworn in for his second term at a ceremony in Bangui on 15 March 2011, the eighth anniversary of his seizure of power in 2003.