BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — A constitutional court in the Central African Republic on Wednesday began hearings on a petition seeking to disqualify the country’s leader from running in the upcoming December presidential election.

The petition filed by the Observatory for Democratic Governance, a civil society group, argued that President Faustin Archange Touadera should be disqualified on the grounds of not meeting the criteria for running for the presidency.

Elysée Nguimalé, president of the group, challenged the origin of the president’s name, claiming it suggests his family cannot be traced — a lineage requirement under the country’s constitution.

“The name Touadera in his mother tongue means a child abandoned by his maternal uncles,” Nguimalé said in his petition. He note

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