In the disputed vote, Chad deems temporary President Deby the victor

The National Elections Management Agency has released preliminary results for the long-awaited presidential election in Chad, naming 40-year-old General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno as the winner.

The electoral authority reports that Deby defeated nine other contenders for the nation’s highest post with 61.03 percent of the total votes cast. With this vote, Deby easily surpasses the 50% threshold required to prevent a runoff.

With 18.53 percent of the vote, Prime Minister Succes Masra,40, who was his main opponent, finished a distant second. He has since contested the results.

Third position went to former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke, 58, who finished second in the most recent presidential election in 2021 with 16.91 percent of the vote.

About two weeks ahead of schedule, on Thursday night, the results were revealed. On May 21, preliminary election results were first anticipated. The Constitutional Council will certify and declare the vote’s result.

The opposition parties have expressed displeasure over allegations of vote-rigging, but Chad’s junta has become the first of the coup-hit nations in West and Central Africa to attempt a restoration to constitutional governance through the democratic process.

In a live Facebook video shortly before the announcement, Masra declared he had won the election with a “resounding victory” and urged his followers and security personnel to thwart any attempt to rig the results.

“A small minority of people wish to change the numerical sequence and have refused to recognize the will of the majority of Chadians.He stated, “They think they can convince people that the same regime that has dominated Chad for decades won the election.

Masra, an opposition leader who was named prime minister of the transitional government in January, urged the people of Chad to reject unfair outcomes that were “stolen by the few who seek a dynasty” and instead support those who “voted for change, who voted for me.”

The contentious results mark the end of a contentious election season that included the assassination of opposition leader Yaya Dillo, the exclusion of notable opposition leaders from the candidate list, and other incidents opponents claim undermined the process’s legitimacy.

Concerns over the legitimacy and openness of the election have been voiced by civil society and rights organizations. “Several problems in the run-up to the balloting cast doubt on its credibility,” according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

An odd military presence in the capital city of N’Djamena was reported by local media just hours before the preliminary results were declared.

With the election, Chad became the first country in Africa run by a junta to go democratic; yet, pundits predict that Deby, should his victory be verified, will only be a military commander dressed in civilian clothing.

The three-year military rule, which rights groups and the opposition claim has been characterized by intense political and social tensions in the nation since April 2021, ends with the presidential election.

Following the death of his father, President Idriss Deby Itno, who had commanded the nation for more than thirty years, on the battlefield at the hands of rebels, General Deby took control of the government. The poll was moved to this year because Deby’s son had promised to restore civilian government in 18 months, a timeframe he could not meet.

Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Chad has been in constant conflict and has never experienced a peaceful handover of power.