Chadian leader Idriss Deby and the head of the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Kodi Mahamat have disagreed on the dates to hold legislative and local elections.
By Adam Hassane Deyé
Deby is demanding consultations during this year or next January while the CENI is proposing the month of April or November 2020.
At his last meeting with the political class earlier this month, the Chadian leader, after accepting an amendment to the Electoral Code, instructed the bodies responsible for organising the elections, namely the National Framework for Political Dialogue (CNDP), the Permanent Bureau of Elections (BPE) and the INEC, to propose an electoral calendar.
In response, Mahamat put forward the idea of linking legislative elections to local elections and organising the electoral consultation in April 2020 or November 2020.
But President Déby, through his chief of staff, has argued that he has made commitments to hold elections at the end of this year or no later than January 2020.
On this basis, the Presidency wanted the CNDP, the BPE and the INEC to work together to achieve this.
Foreign Minister Mahamat Zène Chérif, in a statement sent last Thursday to diplomats accredited to Chad, said that the elections will take place on time.
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