Politics Ruling party wins parliamentary election in Chad

SDA

13.1.2025 - 02:20

The party of Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno (in the center) won the parliamentary election, according to official figures. (archive picture)
The party of Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno (in the center) won the parliamentary election, according to official figures. (archive picture)
Keystone

In the Sahel state of Chad, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) party of President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, which has been in power for decades, has won the parliamentary elections, according to official figures. According to the electoral authority, voter turnout was low.

Keystone-SDA

According to calculations by the AFP news agency based on data from the national electoral authority, the MPS secured 124 out of 188 parliamentary seats in the ballot held at the end of December. According to the electoral authority, only around 51.6 percent of those eligible took part in the election.

The opposition had raised accusations of manipulation beforehand and called for a boycott of the election. The government of the Central African state, on the other hand, had presented the election as an important step towards ending three years of military rule.

Head of state Déby was confirmed as president in May 2024 in an election that was criticized by the opposition. In April 2021, he was appointed interim president by the army at the head of a military government after his father Idriss Déby Itno was killed by rebels. He had ruled Chad, which had been independent since 1960, with a heavy hand for 30 years.

The Central African country of Chad is an oil producer, but is classified by the United Nations as one of the least developed countries in the world.