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Chad’s president Mahamat Derby has won the country’s presidential election held on the 6th of May with over 61 percent beating his closest rivals and the former prime minister Success Masra. The election was described as being far from credible and free. They have accused the Derbys of stifling the opposition to remain in power. Check out the event that shaped the electoral exercise below.
The victory allows Deby to hold onto the presidency in the central African country with a voter mandate.
Previously, he led the country as its interim president, seizing power after his father, the late President Idriss Deby, was killed in April 2021 while fighting a rebel group in the north of the country.
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Earlier on Thursday, Masra issued a live broadcast on Facebook declaring himself the winner. He also accused Deby and other government officials of rigging the election results to hold onto power.
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“A small number of individuals believe they can make people believe that the election was won by the same system that has been ruling Chad for decades,” Masra said.
The results are due to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council.
“I am now the elected president of all Chadians,” Déby said in a brief televised address, promising to make good on his commitments.
Déby was proclaimed transitional president by fellow army generals in 2021 after his father, Idriss Déby Itno, who had ruled Chad with an iron fist for 30 years, was killed in a gun battle with rebels.
Deby and Masra faced eight other candidates who were either relatively unknown or considered not hostile to the regime.
Deby’s cousin and chief election rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot point-blank in the head by army soldiers on February 28, according to his party.
The International Federation for Human Rights had warned that the election appeared “neither credible, free nor democratic”.
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The International Crisis Group also noted that “a number of problems in the run-up to the balloting cast doubt on its credibility”.
Chad has remained a firm ally of traditional security partner France, whose forces in recent years have been ousted by military regimes in former African colonies including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.