Chadians yesterday began voting for a president 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 were to choose whether to extend decades of Deby family rule in one of the world’s poorest nations, a crucial territory in the fight against militants across the Sahel desert region.
They had the chance to opt instead for Deby’s own prime minister, Succes Masra, denounced as a stooge by critics in the absence of any other serious challengers.
Photo: AFP
At his closing election rally on Friday last week, Deby promised a “knockout in the first round.”
Masra also vowed to win without a run-off, telling supporters: “For the first time, Chad will be yours, Chadians.”
International human rights groups have warned the election would not be free or fair as Deby’s main rival has been killed and others banned from standing.
Generals named Deby transition leader in 2021 when his father, longtime Chadian president Idriss Deby Itno, was killed in a gunbattle with rebels after 30 years in power.
Known by his initials “MIDI” and as “the Man in Dark Glasses,” 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 Oct. 20, 2022, the army and police opened fire on demonstrators protesting the transition extension, including members of Masra’s party, the Transformers.
At least 300 young people died according to international non-governmental organizations, or about 50 according to the regime.
Deby’s cousin and chief election rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot point-blank in the head in an army assault on Feb. 28, his party said.
Masra was among the opponents driven out of the nation, 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.
The International Federation for Human Rights on Friday last week said that the election appeared “neither credible, free nor democratic.”
It cited “increasing human rights violations” in the nation, including Dillo’s killing.
More than 8.2 million voters are registered in the central African nation, ranked by the UN as the fourth least-developed in the world.
In a nation where one-third of the inhabitants are aged between 10 and 24, a new generation of voters would be casting ballots for the first time.
For 26-year-old literature student Idriss Amidou in the capital, N’Djamena, Deby “is the only candidate who offers any hope” and the ruling family “knows how to run the country.”
Eric Bendiguim, a 25-year-old law student at N’Djamena University, said his first-ever vote would go to Masra.
“MIDI has already failed,” he said. “We don’t have roads. We don’t have electricity. We don’t have good schools. We don’t have enough to eat. It’s pathetic.”
Voting stations across Chad’s vast largely desert territory were to open from 6am to 5pm.
The results are expected on May 21, with a possible second round on June 22.
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