6th May 2024
Chadians will today vote for a president on Monday in an election purportedly aimed at ending military rule, but dismissed by opponents of junta leader, Mahamat Idriss Deby, as a fix, following violent repression.
Voters will choose whether to extend decades of the Deby family rule in one of the worldโs poorest countries, a crucial territory in the fight against jihadism across the Sahel desert region.
They have the chance to opt instead, for Debyโs own prime minister, Succes Masra, denounced as a stooge by critics in the absence of any other serious challengers.
At his closing election rally on Friday, Deby promised a โknockout in the first roundโ.
Masra also vowed to win without a run-off, telling supporters: โFor the first time, Chad will be yours, Chadians.โ
International human rights groups had warned the election would not be free or fair as Debyโs main rival had been killed and others banned from standing.
โ Military rule โ
Generals named Deby transition leader in 2021 when his father, longtime president Idriss Deby Itno, was killed in a gun battle with rebels after 30 years in power.
Known by his initials as MIDI, and โthe Man in Dark Glassesโ, Mahamat promised an 18-month transition to democracy, but later extended it by two years.
Opposition figures have since fled, been silenced or joined forces with Deby, while the junta has eliminated any attempts by civil society to campaign against it.
On October 20, 2022, the army and police opened fire on demonstrators protesting the transition extension, including members of Masraโs party, the Transformers.
At least, 300 young people died, according to international NGOs, or about 50, according to the regime.
Debyโs cousin and chief election rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot point-blank in the head in an army assault on February 28, according to his party.
Masra was among the opponents driven out of the country, but later returned and was named prime minister in January.
The eight other candidates, either little known or considered not hostile to the regime, are not expected to win many votes.
โ Not โfree or democraticโ โ
The International Federation for Human Rights warned on Friday that the election appeared โneither credible, free nor democraticโ.
It noted โincreasing human rights violationsโ in the country, including Dilloโs killing.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that โa number of problems in the run-up to the balloting cast doubt on its credibilityโ.
These include measures that allow officials to publish only regional tallies of votes rather than posting the results at individual polling stations โ making it impossible for observers to verify the vote-count.
ICG also cited the decision by Chadโs Constitutional Council to exclude 10 rival candidates from the vote in Deby strongholds.
As for Masra, it said: โA significant proportion of his constituency now considers him to have become a stooge of those in powerโ โ though some analysts have said Masra may be genuinely aiming to become president.
ICG and FIDH called into question the independence of the council and another key electoral body, the National Election Management Agency (ANGE).
โ Poverty drives votes โ
More than 8.2 voters are registered in the central African country, ranked by the United Nations as the fourth least-developed country in the world.
In a country where a third of the inhabitants are aged between 10 and 24, a new generation of voters will be casting ballots for the first time.
For 26-year-old literature student Idriss Amidou in the capital NโDjamena, Deby โis the only candidate who offers any hopeโ and the ruling family โknows how to run the countryโ.
But Eric Bendiguim, a 25-year-old law student at NโDjamena University, said his first-ever vote would go to Masra.
โMIDI has already failed,โ he said.
โWe donโt have roads. We donโt have electricity. We donโt have good schools. We donโt have enough to eat. Itโs pathetic.โ
Voting stations across Chadโs vast largely desert territory will open from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) to 5:00 pm (1600 GMT).
Results are expected on May 21, with a possible second round on June 22.
AFP