In what could be the most closely followed election in the country in three decades, Chadians will go to the polls on Monday to choose a new president.
The elections will signal the end of the ruling military government’s transition to democracy. There are now multiple military governments in place throughout West and Central Africa. However, other analysts claim that the vote merely serves to legitimize the military’s hegemony.
Since 2021, when opposition groups fiercely resisted interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s takeover amid doubts about his legitimacy, Chad has been experiencing political turmoil.
In February of this year, government forces shot and killed Yaya Dillo, one of the most powerful opposition figures, and his supporters at their party headquarters in the capital, N’Djamena. This led to a wave of violence.
