Edouard Takaji, The Associated Press
9 minutes ago
Chad's interim President Mahamat Deby Itno will vote on Monday, May 6, 2024 in N'Djamena, Chad, in a long-delayed presidential election aimed at ending three years of military rule. (AP Photo/Muta)
N'Djamena, Chad (AP) – Voters in Chad will be at the polls on Monday to cast their votes in a long-delayed presidential election that is scheduled to end three years of military rule under caretaker President Mahamat Deby Itno. I headed to
Debbie Itno took power after her father, who had ruled the country for more than 30 years, was killed in fighting with rebels in 2021. Last year, the government announced it would extend the 18-month transition period for another two years, sparking protests across the country.
There are 10 candidates on the ballot, including a woman. About 8 million people are registered to vote in the country of more than 17 million people, one of the world's poorest. Analysts expect Debbie Itono to win the vote. Opposition leader Yaya Dilo, a cousin of the current president, was killed in February, but the circumstances remain unclear.
The oil-exporting nation of about 18 million people has not had a free and fair transfer of power since it gained independence in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.
Chad is seen by the United States and France as one of the last remaining stable allies in the vast Sahel region following recent military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The ruling military governments of the three countries expelled the French military and instead turned to Russian mercenary forces for security assistance.
Earlier this year, Niger's military junta ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. troops, meaning Washington loses access to a key base in Agadez, the center of counterterrorism operations in the region. The United States and France still have military presences in Chad and consider it a particularly important partner.
Western countries also fear that instability in Chad, which hosts more than 500,000 refugees from Sudan, could increase the flow of illegal migrants north toward Europe.
“These are all reasons why Western countries have remained relatively silent about Chad's democratic transition,” said Ulf Lessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. “Everyone wants this vote to pass and Debbie Itno to be elected, so they can continue to work with him and maintain stability in the region,” he added.
In addition to the arrival of refugees from Sudan, Chad is also dealing with soaring food prices caused in part by the war in Ukraine and a new threat from the Boko Haram insurgency spilling over from its southwest border with Nigeria.
In March, seven soldiers were killed in an attack that the government blamed on Boko Haram, following a period of peace in 2020 when the Chadian army successfully carried out an operation to destroy the militant group's strongholds there. Fears of violence in the Lake Chad region have been reignited. Schools, mosques and churches have reopened, and humanitarian organizations have returned.
“For years, we have had to endure the high cost of living without any solutions,” Adumazi Jan, a state secondary school teacher in Moen Chari province, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Told. “We want to see change this year through this election,” he added.
Boko Haram started an insurgency against Western education more than a decade ago and is seeking to establish Islamic law in northeastern Nigeria. The rebellion also spread to neighboring countries in West Africa, including Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.
Human rights groups are calling for an investigation into the killing of Chad's main opposition figure, Dilo. The government said Mr. Dilo was killed during an attack on the National Security Agency by his group, known as Socialists Without Borders. However, photos of Dillo showed that he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Human Rights Watch said the killings raised serious concerns about the electoral environment.
Michelle Gavin of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said: “His most powerful opponents have been co-opted or eliminated, and key electoral institutions have been solidified with his supporters. , Debbie Itono's victory is almost certain.”
After voting closes at 5 p.m., votes will first be counted at polling stations, with provisional results to be announced three weeks later on May 21. If no candidate wins outright, a runoff election will be held on June 5th.
