Chad to hold its presidential election

By Babagana Jidda, Kanempress News,
4th May 2024

Chad will hold its presidential elections on May 6, Monday.

This will making Chad the first in a string of coup-hit countries across Central and West Africa to use the ballot box to emerge from years of military rule.

The candidate widely expected to win is Mahamat Idriss Deby, the man, who seized power the day rebels shot and killed his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby, in April 2021.

Analysts say the vote will deliver a relatively stable state in a region hit by militant violence where Russia is also pushing for influence.

Among those Western countries is Chad’s former colonial ruler France, which still has war planes and 1,000 troops , most recently helping Chad and its neighbours combat the Islamist fighters of Boko Haram.

Chad is the last Sahel country with a substantial French military presence after other junta-led states including neighbouring Niger Republic as well as Burkina Faso and Mali.

The three military junta held countries had told Paris and other Western powers to remove their troops and turn to Moscow for backing.