Chad's military ruler Déby wins disputed presidential vote

RFI

10 May 2024 at 3:16 am·2-min read

Chad's interim President Mahamat Idriss Déby has been declared the official winner of the 6 May presidential elections with over 61 percent of the vote, according to provisional results released Thursday, extending his family's decades-long grip on power.

Chad's electoral commission (ANGE) said Gen Déby had secured 61.3 percent of the vote – comfortably over the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

His closest rival, Prime Minister Succès Masra, won just 18.53 percent.

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.

Masra had earlier claimed that he had won a "resounding victory" in the first round of voting and warned Deby's team would rig the results.

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.

His victory ensures the Déby family's three-decade rule will continue.

Celebrations

Soldiers in the N'Djamena neighbourhood where Masra's party is based fired their guns in the air after the results were announced – both in celebration of Deby's win and to deter protesters from gathering, AFP news agency reported.

Some frightened people ran for cover or to their homes and the capital's streets were soon empty.

Déby's supporters shouted, sang, sounded car horns and fired their own guns in the air in celebration.

Supporters of Masra had been holding their own ballot count in parallel to the official one.

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