French President Francois Hollande Saturday called for swift elections in Central African Republic after Paris launched a military offensive to restore order in the African country.
"The idea is to organise elections as soon as possible, by 2015 to have a legitimate authority," Xinhua quoted Hollande as saying.
"You can't leave a president in power who hasn't managed to change anything or who has let things get worse. We talked with Africans who want to take action, mainly with the prime minister who belongs to a coalition which no longer exists on the ground," he added.
Earlier, Hollande defended the deployment of French troops in the country.
The six-month-Sangaris operation "will cost nothing" to France, Hollande said, as "Europe will provide 50 million euros to finance the operation."
