Chad holds parliamentary election to stabilise president’s power

Chadians were voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the opposition that will likely consolidate President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s power.

The election would also complete the oil-producing nation’s transition towards constitutional rule.

Deby came to power in a disputed poll in May, three years after he seized power and declared himself interim leader.

This was after rebels killed his father, President Idriss Deby, on the battlefield.

Opposition leader, Succes Masra’s Transformateurs party and several other parties boycotted Sunday’s legislative election.

The election was the country’s first in over a decade.

They are also boycotting municipal and regional elections also being held on Sunday.

Polls opened for nomads and members of the military on Saturday and at 7.00 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday for the general public.

More than eight million people are registered to vote.

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Provisional results are expected by Jan. 15, 2025, and final results by Jan. 31, 2025.

“This is the first time that I am voting for three candidates at the same time – for the legislative, provincial and municipal elections,’’ said 27-year-old Moussa Ali Hissein.

“I hope that these candidates will keep their promises to young people. I, especially, need a job,’’ Hissein said.

Abel Moungar, 31, said he hoped to see an improved social and economic situation for Chadians.

“I was afraid that people would boycott the elections but thank God, they came to vote like me,’’ he said.

Last month, Chad, a key Western ally in the fight against militants in the Sahel region, ended its defence cooperation pact with France.

It also threatened to withdraw from a regional multinational security force.

The country hosts more than 600,000 refugees who fled the war in neighbouring Sudan, the United Nations said, opening a new tab in May. (Reuters)