The governing party of Chad, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, has come out with an absolute majority from last month’s parliamentary elections that had widespread opposition boycotts. Provisional results by Ahmed Bartchiret, head of the electoral commission, show President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s party winning 124 seats out of 188 in the National Assembly.
The commission reported 51.56 percent voter turnout, but opposition parties said this figure indicated massive skepticism of the legitimacy of the process. The December 29 elections had been presented by Deby’s party as a significant step toward democracy after Mahamat Deby, a military leader, came to power in 2021.
This transition came after the death of his father, long-time President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled for three decades. Mahamat Deby previously claimed victory in a disputed presidential election last year. The recent elections, which also encompassed municipal and regional contests, marked Chad’s first foray into voting in over a decade.
President Deby said these elections would “pave the way for the long-awaited era of decentralization,” as power is gradually shifted to local levels. But more than a dozen opposition parties, including the influential Transformers party, have refused to take part in the elections. The Transformers’ candidate Succes Masra came second in the presidential election.
The opposition termed it a “charade” no different from the presidential vote which international observers had termed not credible. The elections happened at a time when Chad is facing multiple security challenges with attacks by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region and an abrupt decision to halt decades-long military cooperation with France, its former colonial master.
This move to sever military ties comes in parallel with similar actions taken by Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where French troops were expelled amid growing alignment with Russia following a series of coups in West and Central Africa’s Sahel region. The challenges have been compounded by the recent thwarting of an attack on the presidency, described by the government as a “destabilization attempt.”
