Chad’s interim leader, who is running for office, took power after rebels murdered his long-ruling father in 2021
Chadians are voting to elect a president to transition the Sahel nation to civilian rule. The move on Monday makes the Central African country the first to hold elections in the region since a series of recent coups.
More than 8 million people out of Chad’s population of approximately 18 million have registered to vote. They will choose from ten candidates, including transitional leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Kaka.
Mahamat Kaka took power in 2021 when his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed fighting rebels. He initially pledged to hold elections within 18 months. However, in 2022, the military regime extended the deadline by two years, until October 2024, sparking protests that killed over 100 civilians.
The former French colony adopted a new constitution after a referendum last December, allowing Mahamat Kaka to run for president. He announced his presidential bid in March after a coalition of 221 political parties and associations endorsed his candidacy. He has pledged to promote fair, equitable, and effective governance for the development of Chad.
“Today I’m upholding a fourth commitment which was to complete the transition process launched in our country three years ago. It is now up to the people to vote massively to choose their president,” the interim leader said in a Facebook post after voting on Monday.
His candidacy announcement came just days after his presumed main opponent, Yaya Dillo, leader of the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), was shot and killed in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. The government accused Dillo, who was also Mahamat Kaka’s cousin, of carrying out a deadly armed raid on the National State Security Agency. His party denied the allegations, claiming that he was assassinated to prevent him from running in the May election.
Analysts cited by Reuters believe the elections on Monday will be a battle between Success Masra, the landlocked nation’s prime minister, and Mahamat Kaka.