National dialogue is the first step toward elections after the killing of longtime leader Deby plunged Chad into crisis.
The Chadian government said it would hold a national dialogue starting August 20, ahead of the election promised by interim president Mahamat Idriss Deby, who came to power after the death of his father. last year.
Deby, 38 years old, claim to be the top of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) in April 2021 after his father, the longtime ruler of Chad Idriss Deby, was killed while visiting the army armed uprising in the North.
Originally, the council had said that it would oversee the 18-month transition democracy, but it has shown little sign of holding elections as that deadline approaches.
Deby presented the national dialogue as the first step towards voting planning. In theory, it would include armed groups, but the conditions for their participation have yet to be agreed.
Pressure has begun to mount from opposition groups within Chad, an ally of France and other Western countries in the region. fight against armed groups in the Sahel region of Africa, and bilateral partners to accelerate the transition.
“The Transitional Military Council (TMC) has a responsibility to fulfill its commitments to the citizens of Chad, including that members of the TMC will not stand for election in future elections and the TMC will adhere to a period of rapid, democratic transition. The election marks the success of TMC,” said Ellen Thorburn, in charge of the US embassy in Chad, last week.
March, Peace talks in Qatar between Chad’s military government and dozens of opposition groups took place as a first step towards ending a rebellion and holding elections since the chaos began with the killing of former leader Deby.
But then Chad .’s TMC postpone a national dialogue is scheduled to take place in the country’s capital, N’Djamena, on May 10.
Former leader Deby has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years. He died during a visit to a battlefield where Chadian soldiers fought against a group of rebels who had invaded Sudan from Libya.
