RFI: Two weeks ago, when commenting on the presidential election in Chad, you said that the life of the leaders of Central Africa was a major risk factor and serious uncertainties for the coming years. Chad already seems to be there after the brutal disappearance of President Idriss Déby the day after the announcement of his earthly victory in the presidential election
Gilles Yabi : Yes, the death of President Déby was obviously a big surprise, a shock to everyone. The day after his funeral, we must greet the memory of an African personality who will have marked his time and who will be distinguished by a certain number of qualities, his courage, his connection to the country’s territorial integrity. We must greet and respect his memory, but also all the direct and indirect victims of the two regimes he served as Chief of Staff and then as Head of State.
As might be expected, there was no hesitation in respecting the constitution. He was the president’s eldest son who took power along with the regime’s most influential generals. It is difficult not to fear that the announced transition – fully controlled by the Military Council – will lead to a new era of military power that will simply qualify as a democratic power after a manipulated election.
Serious uncertainties about Chad’s future but also over a large part of the continent, say all observers
Yes, the analyzes of the geopolitical consequences of President Déby’s disappearance can be counted in the tens. Many analysts even forget that the issue of the post-Déby period is not just the fight against terrorism, security in the Sahel and in the Chadian basin or the security of the Central African Republic.
In Chad, there is not only a reservoir of soldiers for external operations, tens of thousands of weapons of war, military bases, a lot of sand and some oil. Residents, civilians, men, women, overwhelmingly young people, who would like to live one day in a more or less normal country, in peace, without revolt here or there, without violations of freedoms and with more access to water, education, health , economic activities …
Everyone knows this and says it openly now: the reign of Hissène Habré and then Idriss Déby, a total of 39 years old, was largely the result of the choices of alliances and breaks made by external actors, in particular France and the United States.
The late President Déby said in a memorable interview on the Internationales program from TV5 Monde and RFI in June 2017 that “France has always intervened in Chad’s policies and that it would have even forced him to change the constitution to stay in power in 2006 when he wanted to remove”.
It would be worrying for the people of Chad if, once again, it was the agendas of regional and international actors that alone determine the country’s path for the next two or three decades.
What form of transition do you recommend?
A transitional formula that would be the result of internal dialogue. It would be much more acceptable than giving a blank check to a military council in connection with an army full of tensions and a Chadian society that has so often suffered from the exaggeration of immobile generals.
But we must also be realistic: the need to avoid the disintegration of the country and the installation here and there of armed gangs is as compelling as to trigger real democratization. Both goals must be pursued at the same time.
Find the file on Chad on the website Wathi.
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