The deadline for the submission of names of candidacies for the legislative and local elections in Chad on December 29, 2024 has expired.
A low level of enthusiasm from political parties was noted during the submission period, which was extended twice.
Opened on October 19 in Chad for the elections of December 29, the period for submitting applications ended on midnight of November 3, 2024.
Initially scheduled for October 28, the deadline had to be extended twice. According to the National Election Management Agency (ANGE), these extensions were intended to “allow massive participation of political parties and groups of political parties.”
However, it is noted that despite the extension of the deadline, the enthusiasm for the elections was low and some officials have put forward reasonable deposit to justify lack of enthusiasm.
For the legislative elections, the candidate must pay 500,000 CFA francs and 200,000 CFA francs for the municipal and provincial elections. On the other hand, for a list of candidates for the municipal elections, a sum of three million 600,000 CFA francs, against 2 million 500,000 CFA francs for a list of five seats in the legislative elections, the sums considered “astronomical” by the Observatory of Associations on the Electoral Process in Chad (OAPET).
This organization had requested an urgent revision of the electoral code, in particular the amount of the deposit,without any success.
According to Aweina Azoudoum Gedeon, a political journalist, in addition to this factor, there are others such as the disintegration of the coalition for a united Chad and the boycott of certain political parties such as the Transformers and the GCAP.
“These factors have had a heavy impact on participation in these elections. We will thus find ourselves with the MPS and its former allies in these elections,” he said.
With the absence of the Transformers and about 15 parties forming the GCAP, “we must expect an uninviting electoral process,” political analyst, Dr. Yamingue Betinbaye concluded.
CA/SF/ac/fss/gik/APA