Voting Underway In Chad, Amid Delays
Voting has begun in Chad’s presidential election, a major step leading to the end of the country’s three-year transition.
The polls were marked by delays, opening one hour behind schedule in some areas.
Transitional President Mahamat Déby kicked off the exercise by casting his ballot in the capital, N’djamena.
He said he was proud to have fulfilled his promise to respect the deadline for elections that will signal a return to constitutional order.
Eight million voters are choosing the president from among 10 candidates, including the Military Leader Déby and the Prime Minister, Succès Masra.
The preliminary results are expected by 21 May, but a second round could be held in June if there’s no clear winner in the first round of the polls.
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Chad has accepted a huge influx of refugees from Sudan, where civil war has created the world’s largest displacement crisis. Laessing said some refugees have crossed to Niger, which last year repealed a law aimed at slowing migration to Europe.
It’s another reason for Western countries to keep the relationship with Chad despite the dismal human rights record, he added.
An election win would bolster Deby’s credentials as an ally. Western policy makers can say at least he was elected, Laessing said.
There are fears the turmoil could be testing old ties in the oil-producing country that lies next to the war-torn states of Sudan, Libya and Central African Republic and the economic powerhouse of Nigeria.
Mahamat Idriss Deby, who took on the title of interim president after his takeover, met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in October last year. He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January.
In April, Chad’s air force chief ordered the U.S. to halt activities at an air base near the capital N’Djamena, saying there was a problem with their paperwork.