NEWS- Chad’s interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby has announced that he is planning to run in this year’s long-awaited presidential race. President Deby’s confirmation to contest for the presidency comes at the time when there is a chaotic week in which opposition politician Yaya Dillo was shot dead in the capital, N’Djamena.
The late Dillo’s death which took place on Wednesday is in disputed circumstances and has further exposed divisions in the ruling elite at a politically sensitive time as the country prepares for the promised return to democratic rule through the ballot box.
The Chadian government issued a statement indicating that the late Dillo was killed in an exchange of gunfire with security forces and has accused members of his party for
attacking the internal security agency.
The government has also confirmed that Deby’s uncle, General Saleh Deby Itno who had recently defected to Dillo’s opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), had been arrested in the wake of last week’s events.
The Chad government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said that General Saleh Deby Itno has now been charged by the public prosecutor, and his life is out of danger without specifying what charges into faces.
Chadian rebel group, The Front for Change and Concord in Chad and the CNRD opposition party have described the late Dillo’s death as an assassination.
While addressing supporters and state officials, Interim President Deby announced his candidacy for the May-June election in a speech that made no reference to Dillo’s killing or his uncle’s arrest.
Interim President Deby initially promised an 18-month transition to elections after he seized power in 2021, when his long-ruling father was killed in clashes with rebels, but his government later adopted resolutions that postponed elections until 2024 and allowed him to run for president and this electoral delay triggered protests that were violently quelled by security forces leaving around 50 civilians killed.
Additional Reporting from Aljazzera Africa
