Chad’s governing party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), has secured a decisive majority in last month’s parliamentary election, despite a widespread boycott by opposition parties, Al Jazeera reports.
According to provisional results announced late Saturday by electoral commission head Ahmed Bartchiret, the MPS won 124 out of 188 seats in the National Assembly.
The election, held on December 29, saw a turnout of 51.56 percent, a figure that opposition parties argue reflects widespread skepticism about the validity of the contest. They have described the election as a “charade.”
The MPS, led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, presented the election as the final step in Chad’s transition to democracy, following Deby’s ascent to power as a military ruler in 2021. Deby took over after the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the country for three decades. Mahamat Deby went on to win last year’s presidential election, a vote that was widely disputed.
The parliamentary, municipal, and regional elections were the first in Chad in over a decade. Deby had said the elections would “pave the way for the era of decentralisation so long-awaited and desired by the Chadian people,” referring to the distribution of power to provincial and municipal levels.
However, more than 10 opposition parties boycotted the elections, including the main Transformers party led by Succes Masra, who came second in last year’s presidential race. The opposition parties raised concerns that the election would be a repeat of the presidential vote, which election observers deemed not credible.
The election took place during a critical period for Chad, which is grappling with significant security challenges. These include ongoing attacks by the Boko Haram armed group in the Lake Chad region and the recent severing of decades-long military ties with France, its former colonial power. This move mirrors similar actions by other countries in the Sahel region, like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, who have expelled French troops and fostered closer ties with Russia following a series of coups.
Adding to the political instability, security forces recently foiled an attack on the presidency, which the government described as a “destabilization attempt.”
