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In Chad, 7.3 million voters were called to the polls on Sunday to decide between ten candidates, including the current head of state Idriss Déby Itno, who is seeking a new six-year term. In the capital, as in the provinces, there was no crowd in front of the polling stations.
In the center and north of Ndjamena, where our special correspondent went Alexandra Brangeon, polling stations open slowly and often between an hour and an hour and a half late. Voters leaked in from 9 a.m. “It’s a duty,” “you have to work,” “we want stability and peace,” they explained.
In Chagoua, a district in southern Ndjamen, a Member of Parliament close to the opposition, the offices were almost empty at noon. In one hour, only four voters showed up. “People will come later,” assures the head of an office. But outside the same office, a young man sitting on a plastic chair does not believe. “The people in the neighborhood are angry, they will not vote. There is no water, no electricity. Young people have no job. In 30 years, Déby has done nothing for his country. There is no point in voting ”.
Low presence in the provinces
In Abéché, the capital of eastern Chad, the municipality closed markets without convincing the population to go out en masse. According to several sources on site, only the polling station in the Torodona market experienced a crowd in the morning.
The same applies to Sarh, in the southern part of the country, where most election representatives have turned their thumbs since the end of the morning. Only the large market there is closed. In the neighborhoods, people conduct their business as if nothing had happened, reports the corresponding note, Madjiasra Nako. We hoped that people would come to vote after the fair; it is not, testifies a colleague who agreed on the spot.
In Moundou, Chad’s economic capital, the streets were abandoned this Sunday dinner. Rolling centers too. According to several observers contacted on the spot, the polling stations, which have between 300 and 400 voters for the most dynamic, received only about forty voters at noon.
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