Chad begins national dialogue to pave way for elections
Crucial national talks have started on the future of Chad that the ruling military says will pave the way for elections.
More than 1,400 delegates from the military, civil society, opposition parties, trade unions and rebel groups gathered on Saturday in the capital, N’Djamena, for the opening of a “national dialogue” that is expected to last three weeks.
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The talks are the initiative of Army General Mahamat Idriss Deby.
Deby took power in April 2021 at the age of just 37 after his father, who ruled for 30 years, was killed during a military operation against rebels.
Deby has said the forum should open the way to “free and democratic” elections after 18 months of rule by his military – a deadline that France, the African Union (AU) and others have urged him to uphold.
But the “dialogue”, which should have begun in February, has been marred by delays as Chad’s myriad rebel groups, meeting in Qatar, squabbled over whether to attend.
In the end, about 40 groups in August 8 signed up to a deal entailing a ceasefire and guarantee of safe passage on return to Chad.
On the agenda for talks are lasting peace, reforming state institutions, and a new constitution that will be put to a referendum.
Deby signed a decree on Wednesday saying that the decisions taken at the forum will be “legally binding”.
He is expected to speak at the opening of the conference on Saturday, said Saleh Kebzabo, a vice president of the forum’s organising committee and one-time opponent of the elder Deby.
The dialogue would then begin on Sunday or Monday, Kebzabo told AFP.
AU Commission chief and Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat will also speak at the talks’ opening.
–’Skewed in advance’ –
On Thursday, two exiled rebel leaders, Timan Erdimi and Mahamat Nouri returned to Chad to participate in the forum.
“We signed this agreement to rebuild Chad,” Erdimi, the head of the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), told AFP.
Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, has endured repeated uprisings and unrest since independence in 1960.
The talks face major challenges according to observers: time pressure and the fact that two of the biggest rebel groups are not taking part.
They include the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), which triggered the offensive in the northeast last year that ended in the elder Deby’s death.
FACT has said it considers the talks to be “skewed in advance”.
Wakit Tamma, a large coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups, also refuses to take part, accusing the junta of “human rights violations” and preparing for Deby’s candidacy as president.
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