Chad votes in triple elections after three years of army rule

Assistant Rapporteur General of the Chadian Electoral Commission (ANGE) Ousmane Houzibe (C) gestures as members of the Chadian security forces vote for the legislative, provincial and local elections at a barrak in Koundoul on December 28, 2024. [AFP]

Chad goes to the polls today (Sunday) for legislative, provincial and local elections that are presented by the government as the last stage of a political transition after three years of military rule, but are being boycotted by the opposition.

The boycott leaves the field open to candidates aligned with Marshal Mahamat Idriss Itno, who was brought to power by the military in 2021 and then legitimised in a presidential election last May that opposition candidates denounced as fraudulent.

"It is better to stay at home," said opposition figure Succes Masra in a long Facebook live on Saturday, denouncing a "system built on lies and electoral theft."

"The fabricated results are already in the computers," he said.

On Saturday evening, the opposition Democratic Party of the Chadian People (PDPT) claimed that more than a thousand ballots intended for the sub-prefecture of Bongor had disappeared, and called for "vigilance" to "thwart the fraud networks" set up by the ruling MPS party.

Polling stations will be open from 6 am to 6 pm (0500 to 1700 GMT) to welcome the approximately eight million registered voters, watched by a hundred foreign observers and representatives of different political parties.

As in previous elections, soldiers, members of the police forces and nomadic people began voting Saturday.

'Bloodbath'

Voting is taking place against a backdrop of recurring attacks by jihadist group Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, the ending of a military accord with former colonial master France and accusations that Chad is interfering in the conflict ravaging neighbouring Sudan.

Itno's government has presented the weekend elections as a key stage in the transition to democratic rule.

The 40-year-old took power in 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled the poor Sahel country with an iron fist for three decades.

The younger Itno then won a five-year term in the disputed May election.

Chad's last legislative elections date back to 2011, but several subsequent votes were postponed due to jihadist threats, financial difficulties, and the coronavirus epidemic.

A 93-member transition parliament was chosen and installed by a presidential decree in 2021.

The opposition says the regime has become increasingly autocratic and repressive. In his speech on Saturday, Succes Masra recalled the "bloodbath" that greeted opposition demonstrations in October 2022.

Despite attempts by the ruling party to drum up enthusiasm, the ballots are being handed out amid a near news blackout because of an ongoing strike by online journalists protesting restrictions placed on them.

The country's private press will not cover election day because the government refused to provide the subsidies that are normally paid for this sort of event.