Chad election result expected on April 25 amid calls for change
Election officials began counting ballots at a polling station in the centre of the capital N’Djamena immediately after polls closed on Sunday, watched by a group of observers.
CAPE TOWN, April 12 (ANA) – The election commission in Chad is expected to announce provisional results on April 25, following a presidential election in which incumbent Idriss Deby is widely expected to extend his 30-year rule, according to international broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Election officials began counting ballots at a polling station in the centre of the capital N’Djamena immediately after polls closed on Sunday, watched by a group of observers, the Reuters news agency reported.
President Deby is looking to extend his three-decade rule, despite mounting calls for political change.
Opposition leaders on Thursday urged their supporters to boycott the poll and called for fresh protests against Deby’s sixth term bid, Al Jazeera reported.
Deby, 68, was the first to cast his ballot at a polling station in the capital N’Djamena. He is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders and an ally of Western powers in the fight against armed groups in West and Central Africa.
“I’m calling on all Chadians to come out and vote for the candidate of their choice who will have to tackle the major challenges facing our country over the next six years,” Deby told journalists after voting.
Deby came to power spearheading the rebellion that overthrew longtime military ruler Hissene Habre in 1990. He won elections in 1996 and again in 2001 before pushing through a constitutional change in 2018 that could allow him to stay in power until 2033, the broadcaster reported.
He faced off against six other candidates, including former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke, several leading opponents are boycotting the race, including the 2016 runner-up Saleh Kebzabo, quit in protest over violence by the security forces and has vowed to make Chad “ungovernable” if Deby wins.
Kebzabo and opposition leader Ngarlejy Yorongar pulled out of the race after a violent arrest attempt of another candidate, Yaya Dillo, in late February.
The government of Chad in February banned all public demonstrations across the country, citing fears of public disorder.
Rights organisation Amnesty International said the ban on public demonstrations and the arbitrary arrests of opposition members and civil society activists ahead of Chad’s presidential election sends the wrong signal.
The government prevented the opposition from staging protests ahead of an expected announcement by Deby’s party that the veteran leader will be its champion in upcoming elections in April.
The organisers told news agency AFP the demonstrations were “peaceful marches” for political change and equality and vowed to carry on with them as scheduled.
At least 14 people were arrested on the weekend and were charged on Tuesday with “assault and battery, disturbing public order and destruction of state property” before being remanded in the capital N’Djamena, according to Amnesty International.
Around 30 others were sentenced to between two and three months in prison in the southern town of Moundou, where some of them were arrested on February 4 while preparing the protest.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay