CHAD DECLARES DEBY ITNO WINNER OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN HEATED RACE

Fri 10 May 2024:

Chad’s Military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has been declared the winner of this week’s presidential election, according to provisional results.

The national agency that manages Chad’s election released results of Monday’s election late on Thursday, weeks earlier than planned. The figures showed Deby Itno won with just over 61 percent of the vote, with the runner-up Succes Masra falling far behind with over 18.5 percent of the vote.

Chad held its long delayed presidential election on Monday following 24 months of a military transition process that was determined on October 1, 2022. The decision of transition paved the way for the Transitional Military Council and President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno to continue his leadership as Transitional President and for members of the Transitional Military Council to be candidates in the subsequent elections.

Allegations of rigging the election

Deby’s rival in the presidential race, Masra, has already indicated he will not accept the election results.

Earlier on Thursday, Masra issued a live broadcast on Facebook declaring himself the winner. He also accused Deby and other government officials of rigging the election results to hold onto power.

“A small number of individuals believe they can make people believe that the election was won by the same system that has been ruling Chad for decades,” Masra said.

Deby’s father had led the country for more than 30 years, from 1990 to 2021, when he was shot to death shortly after his sixth presidential victory.

Critics have accused both him and now his son of stifling the opposition to maintain their grip on power.

They have also pointed to circumstances leading up to the May 6 presidential vote that could have swayed its outcome.

For instance, one of the leading opposition figures, Deby’s cousin Yaya Dillo, was killed when security forces engaged in a shootout at his party headquarters.

Other opposition figures have been barred from running over “irregularities” in their applications to campaign.

On Thursday, Masra called on his supporters and security forces to back his claim to the presidency and reject the election agency’s results.

“To all Chadians who voted for change, who voted for me, I say: mobilise. Do it calmly, with a spirit of peace,” he said in his Facebook broadcast.

The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.

One of the world’s least-developed countries, Chad’s meagre resources have been stretched thinner by multiple shocks including climate crisis-fueled heatwaves and a refugee crisis linked to the civil war in neighbouring Sudan.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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