Politics

Chad postpones national peace dialogue brokered by Qatar

Published

1 year ago

May 2, 2022

The Chadian military junta has announced the postponement of a landmark national peace dialogue with opposition forces and rebel leaders which was to serve as preparatory negotiations between the two sides in Qatar.

The impoverished West African nation has been engulfed in long drawn turmoil after long-time President Idriss Deby Itno died in April last year while fighting jihadist rebels.

His son, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno who took over power had promised a quick transition to civilian rule with elections scheduled for February this year.

He had also promised to convene a national dialogue to start on May 10 which was scheduled to hold in Qatar between the government and more than 40 opposition groups who had already sent their delegations to Doha for preliminary talks.

But on Sunday, the Chadian Foreign Ministry said it had agreed “to postpone the inclusive national dialogue to a later date to be decided, after consultations with the relevant institutions and political actors”.

The shift in the dialogue came after Doha called for the postponement, saying its mediation was making “tangible” progress at “a good pace”, adding that a new delay would “give the participating parties more time to reach a peace agreement, in preparation for the convening of the comprehensive national dialogue.”

Doha had originally only wanted to host talks and was reluctant to become a full mediator but Chadian foreign ministry said Qatar was now in “full support for Chad’s efforts in this political process, in order to achieve the aspirations of its people for peace, security and stability.”

Part of the demands by opposition groups is that Deby must rule himself out of the elections, and also want safety guarantees to allow opposition leaders who are mostly in exile in neighbouring Libya and Sudan, as well as in Europe, to return to Chad.

Related Topics:#CHAD #National Dialogue Featured Opposition rebels

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Politics

Opposition party wins majority seats in Guinea Bissau’s parliament

Published

14 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

After a thirteen months break in Guinea-Bissau’s parliament, the opposition coalition has won majority seats after the legislative elections held on Sunday.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15, presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

According to official results, the PAI Terra Ranka coalition, led by the former ruling PAIGC party, won 54 of 102 seats in Sunday’s poll, while the ruling Madem G15, won 28 seats.

The development alters the planned constitutional reforms of President Embalo which would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system.

Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances, a situation that has led to political gridlock and infighting in the past.

The political stability of the country has been consistently threatened by military incursions with successful and failed coup attempts. The latest was in February 2022 when gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, in an attempt to stage a coup.

Politics

Algeria, Sierra Leone get non-permanent seat at UN Security Council

Published

3 days ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Algeria and Sierra Leone, have been elected as non-permanent members of the the United Nations’ Security Council for 2024-2025.

The two countries are part of the ten countries elected for two years in the Council outside the five power bloc countries— the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

The countries replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates and will join Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland who were elected last year.

For Sierra Leone, it’s a return to the council after 53 years. Its Foreign Minister, David Francis said it was “a great day for this small, progressive and confident country…which has successfully transitioned from war to peace.”

Guyana and South Korea were also elected unchallenged while Slovenia handily beat Belarus for the only contested seat.

An official of rights agency, Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau remarked that “the vote in the General Assembly shows why a competition for UN elections is essential” after Slovenia edged Belarus for the seat going to Eastern Europe and obtained 153 votes, against 38 in Belarus.

“UN member states have undoubtedly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights violations at home and attempts to cover up Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for ensuring human rights. humans,” he added.

Algeria got 184 votes, South Korea 180 votes, Sierra Leone 188 votes and Guyana 191 in a single candidate votes for four seat reserved for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean.

There has been a long debate about the place of Africa in international relations. At the inception of the United Nations, only four independent African countries represented the continent when 50 representatives of different countries met in San Francisco, California, in 1945 to complete the Charter of the United Nations.