Seleka
| Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR | |
|---|---|
| Participant in Central African Republic Civil War | |
| Active | September 2012–present |
| Groups | |
| Leaders |
Michel Djotodia Joseph Zoundeiko (military wing) |
| Opponents |
|
Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR is an alliance of rebel militia factions that overthrew the Central African Republic (CAR) government on March 24, 2013. After its official dissolution in September 2013, the remaining rebel groups became known as Ex-Seleka. Séléka leader Michel Djotodia became the nation's president from March 2013 until his resignation in January 2014. Members of Séléka are almost entirely Muslim.
The word Seleka means "Coalition" in Sango, one of the CAR's two national languages, the other being French. The international media has shortened the full name Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR to la Séléka in French or often Seleka in English.
The term Séléka had been used previously in CAR politics when Jean-Jacques Démafouth launched the political party New Alliance for Progress (French: Nouvelle Alliance pour le Progrès) with the Sango name Fini Seleka.
The rebel coalition originated in an agreement signed between factions of the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) and the Patriotic Convention for Saving the Country (CPSK), two of the CAR's many anti-government militias on August 20, 2012. CPJP in this case refers to the "Fundamental" splinter group of the CPJP, one of many militias involved in the CAR's long-running civil war. A different faction of the CPJP signed a peace accord with the government on August 25, 2012.
The Seleka first emerged on September 15, 2012 under the name alliance CPSK-CPJP, when it published a press release taking responsibility for the attacks on three towns that day. It was the last of the major rebel groups to do so. The CPSK was hardly known. On December 15, 2012 the group published its first press release using the full name "Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR" thus including the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR). Two groups that did not appear in the title, the long-standing militia Democratic Front of the Central African People (FDPC), and the newly minted Alliance for Revival and Rebuilding (A2R), were also reportedly part of the alliance.
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