Voting begins in Chad as opposition parties call for election boycott | Elections News

Opposition parties are calling on Chadians to boycott the elections, calling them a fraud aimed at consolidating the power of the ruling party.

Voting has begun in the general elections in Chad, which president Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno it is portrayed as a key step in the transition to democracy, but is being boycotted by the country’s opposition parties.

Members of Chad’s armed forces and nomadic tribes were invited to vote on Saturday for logistical reasons.

But most people in the African nation of about 20 million people will vote on Sunday to elect a national parliament, regional assemblies and local councils. The polls will be open from 06:00 to 17:00 local time (05:00 to 16:00 GMT).

Reporting from the capital N’Djamena on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera reporter Catherine Soi said many Chadians described feeling “indifferent” ahead of the vote.

“They say they don’t expect any changes. They say they believe that the ruling party will win no matter what,” she said.

“A lot of them just talk about … bread and butter issues: They say the cost of living is extremely high. They talk about corruption and nepotism that is widespread.”

Opposition parties in the country called on citizens to boycott the elections, which they described as a sham.

“No campaigning, no voting on December 29. Stay home and ask others to do the same,” the main opposition Transformers party said in a Facebook post.

Still, about 45 percent of the country’s 200,000 nomadic tribesmen and 45,000 soldiers had voted by noon Saturday, according to initial estimates.

Military personnel began arriving early at the polling station at the Koundoul barracks near N’Djamena, the AFP news agency reported.

“Voting is taking place normally. The army votes freely,” said senior election administration official Ousmane Houzibe.

‘Serious concern’

The elections are being held against a backdrop of repeated attacks by the Boko Haram insurgent group in the Lake Chad region.

Chad also recently ended the military agreement with its former colonial power, France, and the country has faced accusations of meddling in the conflict ravaging neighboring Sudan.

President Deby’s government presented the weekend elections as a key stage in the transition to democratic rule.

The 40-year-old leader took power in 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Deby Urgentwho ruled the country with an iron hand for three decades.

Analyst Mamadou Bodian said that while the election marked a “significant turning point” ending a three-year transition period, it was still highly contested and seen as favoring the ruling Patriotic Movement of Salvation (MPS) party.

“Even the election management body is seen to be dominated by individuals loyal to the ruling party,” Bodian told Al Jazeera. “And that raises serious concerns not only about the process, but about the independence of the entire electoral system.”

A lack of international observers and an “opaque” vote-counting process are also exacerbating long-standing distrust of Chadian elections, Bodian said.

The opposition boycott “reflects a widespread belief that these elections are neither free nor fair,” he added. “And this also casts doubt on Chad’s democratic prospects.”

Deby won a five-year presidential term in May after a vote that the opposition condemned as fraudulent. The last parliamentary elections were held in 2011.