Chad elections 2024: What you need to know

30 April, 2024

Why is this election important?

Chad’s May 6 elections appear to offer voters a choice. But analysts say it was orchestrated to have one result: rubber-stamp the rule of incumbent Mohamed Idriss Deby, who is seeking to transition from military leader to civilian president.

Mr Déby took power three years ago after his father, Idriss Déby, ruled Chad with an iron fist for three decades. Killed – apparently on the battlefield, fighting rebels trying to overthrow the government. His son’s succession to the presidency was a clear violation of the country’s constitution.

Chad is a landlocked, arid country in Central Africa with a population of 18 million. Despite being rich in natural resources, it is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Still, it provides shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in neighboring Sudan.

Chad too African country coup zone stretching from coast to coast over the past four years.

It is the first country led by a military junta to hold elections. Mali’s government keeps postponing its promised vote. Last year, Burkina Faso’s military president Ibrahim Traore postponed elections scheduled for July 2024 indefinitely, saying they were “not a priority.” There is no end in sight for Guinea’s so-called transitional government.

At a time when other countries are expelling Western allies, Chad has earned a reputation as a reliable security partner in the West’s fight against Islamist militants.It houses hundreds of French soldiers after they were driven out of neighboring Niger some american.

But some U.S. troops leave U.S. officials recently said the commander of Chad’s air force had written a letter ordering them to cease operations at the air base in the capital, N’Djamena, at least until after the election.

Who is running?

Mr Deby – nicknamed Kaka – was supposed to be interim leader and had pledged not to run – but he topped the ballot. He was a four-star general who trained in Chad and France and had three wives and many children.

His prime minister, Sousse Masra, is also a candidate. Masra was the country’s most prominent opposition leader until he went into exile last year. But he has since returned, struck a deal with Mr Deby and has led his government since January. Mr Masra once enjoyed considerable support, but many Chadians now view him as a traitor.

Eight other candidates have been allowed to run, but two main opposition leaders, Nassour Ibrahim Negi Khursami and Rahis Ahmet Saleh, have been banned from running for the country. The Constitutional Council said there were “irregularities”, including allegations that Mr Kusami forged documents and was barred from running. But most observers said they believed the commission’s findings were politically motivated.

Another name absent from the ballot is that of Yaya Dillo, who had been the most important opposition leader. In February, he was shot Conducted by security forces at their party headquarters – His party called it an assassination. Dozens of protesters had previously been killed at pro-democracy rallies.

When will we know the results?

About a week after the election. If there is a runoff election, it will be held on June 22.

Who will win?

Chad has never held free and fair elections, and this one looks set to continue that tradition. Analysts say a coup is the only way for Deby to lose power.

But even if he wins votes, don’t make the mistake of thinking he’s popular, said Linda Irulo, an international relations scholar at Georgetown University in Qatar. She said the juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger were much more popular than those in Chad, despite the apparent absence of elections.

“Most of them have some level of popular support,” she said, mainly because they are trying to “cut off French influence in their countries.”

Thousands of people rallied in support of the junta in each country. Not so in Chad. Nonetheless, Mr. Deby has ensured that candidates who do not have enough support to defeat him will participate.

“I haven’t seen any change happen in my life,” said Julia Bealoum, a student in N’Djamena. “I think things will continue as they have been.”

What are the geopolitical factors?

Chad has not faced the same wave of international condemnation as this incident. coup and Democratic backsliding in other African countries. The African Union did not suspend Chad’s membership after the coup or when Mr. Déby reneged on his promise not to run. When opposition leader Dilot was killed, the United States and France said nothing.

French President Macron even sent a special envoy to N’Djamena 10 days after Dillo’s death to express his “admiration” for the electoral process.

This is a far cry from the condemnation meted out to coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, or the subsequent failure of their military governments to hold elections.

Many voters in Chad believe that Western countries have the final say and remain highly critical of France despite close ties between the two governments.

“I think it is impossible to organize transparent elections in a country like Chad because we are ruled by Western powers, especially France, who only care about their own interests,” said Richard Gitangal, owner of a small mobile phone shop. Richard Djitaingar said. In N’Djamena.