Chad votes with 30-year ruler Deby poised for 6th win
N’DJAMENA, Chad: Chad headed into presidential elections yesterday with Idriss Deby Itno, ruler for the last three decades, set to win a sixth term. A key ally in the West’s anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, Deby, 68, is the frontrunner in a six-candidate race without major rivals after a campaign in which demonstrations were banned or dispersed. The incumbent and his wife cast their votes in the morning at a central polling station in the capital N’Djamena, where Deby spoke to journalists.
“I am calling upon all men and women of Chad wherever they are to come out in force and vote to exercise their right and duty to choose the candidate they think is best for them,” he said, brushing aside some opposition parties’ calls to boycott the polls. “Everything is happening calmly and securely in a peaceful and stable country,” Deby said.
Police and soldiers were out in force across the city as voting booths and ballot boxes arrived progressively, with numerous polling stations visited by AFP failing to open on time. Queueing to vote in the capital, a 25year-old saleswoman named Bernadette told AFP she was voting for Deby because “thanks to him I am free to walk wherever I want, day or night, in total security”.
Chad has struggled with poverty and instability since gaining independence from France in 1960. A former
rebel and career soldier who seized power in a coup in 1990, Deby has twice, with French help, thwarted attempts to oust him.
Other candidates include Albert Pahimi Padacke, a former prime minister under Deby, and Felix Nialbe Romadoumngar-officially “leader of the opposition” as his URD party has eight seats in the National Assembly. Lydie Beassemda, a former agriculture minister, is the first woman to run for president in Chad’s history. She is pitching her campaign on federalism, in a country where ethnic rivalry is common, and on women’s rights, in a culture where patriarchal domination is entrenched.
But seven other candidates were rejected by the Supreme Court and three withdrew, including longtime opposition politician Saleh Kebzabo, who quit in protest over violence by the security forces.
Deby has campaigned on a promise of peace and security in a region that has been rocked by jihadist insurgencies. Two Chadian soldiers were killed Thursday in an ambush in the Lake Chad region, where Islamist extremists have been increasingly attacking civilians and security forces, Communications Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene said yesterday. Provisional results from the elections are scheduled for April 25, with the final results due on May 15. With Deby set for victory, the major question mark is over turnout. Deby urged voters at his final rally on Friday to “turn out massively”, but many residents have voiced disinterest in an election whose outcome already appears certain. Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote out of a population of 15 million, but the most critical opposition parties have urged voters to boycott the election. Weekly protest marches urging a peaceful transfer of power have been banned or forcefully dispersed.—ÅFP