Politics

Idriss Déby succeeds self in Chad, becomes president of transition government after postponing elections

Published

2 years ago

October 10, 2022

General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was sworn in on Monday as president of a two-year transitional period in the Central African country.

Deby took the reins of the country after his father was killed during an operation against rebels in April 2021.

There was an initial 18-month transition plan to elections when President Deby seized power in April 2021 after his father, President Idriss Deby, was killed on the battlefield during a conflict with insurgents.

Debby, during his inauguration ceremony on Monday at the Palais du 15-Janvier in N’Djamena, said his “second phase of the transition” must lead “to the strengthening of our democracy” and the future government “will work body and soul to ensure that the will of the Chadian people does not suffer any deviation.”

He added that “elections [would be] organized in transparency and serenity to […] ensure the return to constitutional order.

In attendance at the inauguration were the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, several ministers from West and Central Africa (Niger, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo), the ambassadors of France and the European Union, but in the absence of the African Union (AU) representatives.

There has been restrain from the international community on the current political development in Chad, the AU had demanded on 19 September that the junta not extend the 18 months of transition, “and recalled unequivocally that no member of the Transitional Military Council can be a candidate in the elections at the end of the transition.

The European Union (EU) on its part also expressed its “concern” about the decisions to extend the transition and allow General Déby to run for the presidency,

Chad is one of the countries in Sub-Sahara Africa that has been regularly beset for decades by offensives from a multitude of rebel groups.

The country also features in the category of West African states like Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso currently under military rule with leading argument on the weak military institutions under civil rule, but not much seem to have been achieved under military rules as they all still witness fatal terror attacks.

Related Topics:#CHAD Featured Idriss Déby Mahamat Idriss Deby

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Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.