Chad holds parliamentary election likely to cement president’s grip on power

By Mahamat Ramadane

Chadians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the opposition that will likely consolidate President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s power and complete the oil-producing nation’s transition towards constitutional rule.

Deby was elected in a disputed vote in May, three years after seizing power and declaring himself interim leader when rebels killed his father, President Idriss Deby, on the battlefield.

Opposition leader Succes Masra’s Transformateurs party and several other parties boycotted Sunday’s legislative election, the country’s first in over a decade. They are also boycotting municipal and regional elections also being held on Sunday.

Polls opened for nomads and members of the military on Saturday, and at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday for the general public. More than eight million people are registered to vote.

Provisional results are expected by Jan. 15, 2025, and final results by Jan. 31, 2025, in the large, mainly desert Central