Chadian election officials ask military for protection
Chad’s electoral commission has asked for military protection for election officials and candidates amid a spike in attacks ahead of elections on December 29th.
Voice of America reported on December 18th that supporters of the opposition have used clubs and iron bars to prevent the ruling MPS party from holding rallies in a number of towns and cities.
Chad’s national election management agency, known as ANGE, said campaigning for elections at the parliamentary, local council and regional level has been interrupted attempts to disrupt rallies and attack candidates and elections officials.
ANGE Vice President Assane Bairra said tensions may worsen and devolve into armed conflicts if Chad’s military fails to deploy troops, and reported that more than 8.3 million of Chad’s 18 million civilians have registered to vote.
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Chadian officials say the elections will end the country;’s three-year “transitional period” following the April 2021 death of longtime president Idriss Deby Itno.
Chad’s government says 1,300 candidates have been put forward by around 180 parties to compete in the parliamentary elections, with several thousand others taking part in local council and provincial elections. Over 1,000 election observers have been accredited for the polls.
The polls have been described as a “masquerade” by a coalition of over 75 opposition parties and civil society groups who say Chadian president Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and his Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) want to use the polls to consolidate their grip on power.
Opposition and civil society groups said their supporters used clubs and iron bars to attack MPS campaign caravans in several towns, including Ndjamena, Bongor, Abeche, Lai and Moundou, this week
The military said in other areas it has dismantled roadblocks set up by opposition parties to stop MPS campaigners entering towns.
President of opposition party Chad’s Party of Democrats Avocksouma Djona said his supporters have been blocking campaigners from both MPS and the opposition from holding rallies, and said his party wants elections postponed because all the officials of Chad’s elections management body were appointed by Deby.
He added that Chad’s constitutional court is controlled by Deby and has told the court to declare his party victorious in all elections.
ANGE organizes elections and declares provisional results, while Chad’s constitutional court declares final results, and Deby appoints officials to both institutions.
Deby told state television this week that elections will be fair and transparent, a claim dismissed by opposition groups, who say he wants to rig the polls to ensure control of parliament.
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Deby succeeded his father Idriss Deby Itno after he was killed in a gun battle in April 2021 following a 30-year spell in power. He originally promised an 18-month transition to civilian rule but extended it by two years.
He won Chad’s contested May 6th presidential election, which many opposition parties boycotted, asserting that Deby wanted at all costs to continue his late father’s rule.
Voice of America
