Chad military leader to contest in up-coming presidential election

Chad military leader to contest in up-coming presidential election

Chad’s military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said Saturday he would contest a May 6 presidential election, just three days after his chief rival was killed in murky circumstances.

“I, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, am a candidate for the 2024 presidential election under the banner of the For a United Chad coalition,” he said in a speech.

Deby Itno took power in 2021 after his father, veteran leader Idriss Deby Itno, died while fighting rebels. The iron-fisted ruler had led the Sahel country for more than three decades.

Deby Itno, 39, is almost certain to win, given that his main challenger has been assassinated and the opposition has been muzzled and repressed.

On Wednesday, Deby Itno’s cousin and main political rival, opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djerou, was killed after troops surrounded the office of his Socialist Party Without Borders in the capital N’Djamena.

His party accused soldiers of shooting Dillo dead at point-blank range in an “execution” before the presidential election, in which he planned to challenge Deby.

The government has rejected the accusations, saying Dillo “opposed his arrest” and fired on security forces.