Chad Declares Interim President as Election Winner

On Thursday, Chad's government electoral body declared that interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby won the presidential elections held on May 6, securing 61% of the votes.

The announcement was based on preliminary results, with his main rival also claiming victory.

Chad has become the first country to return to constitutional rule through the ballot boxes among nations governed by military councils in West and Central Africa following coups. However, some opposition parties raised concerns about potential election fraud.

Amid prevailing tension, significant numbers of security forces were deployed at major intersections in the capital, N'Djamena, ahead of the results announcement.

The head of the National Electoral Management Agency stated that Deby obtained 61.3% of the votes, well exceeding the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff.

He added that Prime Minister and main opposition candidate, Souleymane Masra (40 years old), garnered 18.53% of the votes.

Just before the results were unveiled, Masra declared his victory in a live Facebook broadcast, urging security forces and his supporters to reject what he described as an attempt to steal the elections.

The results come amid disputed elections marked by the fall of opposition leader Yaya Dillo, the exclusion of prominent opposition figures from the list of candidates, and other issues critics say have undermined the credibility of the process.

While Masra's campaign unexpectedly attracted large crowds, analysts widely predicted Deby's victory, who seized power after rebels killed his father in April 2021 after ruling the country for a long time.

While other military councils in the Sahel region, such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, have requested Paris and other Western powers to withdraw and are now seeking support from Moscow instead, Chad remains the last country in the Sahel region with a significant French military presence.