No press trip has been organized for journalists from the private media to cover the negotiations between rebel groups and the Chadian authorities, which have been taking place since Sunday March 13 in Doha, Qatar. Necessary trips, according to press bosses, given the financial difficulties of Chadian private media. The latter therefore threaten to withdraw from the transition process. In an attempt to ease tensions, the Minister of Communication received representatives of the private press on Thursday 17 March.
With our correspondent in Ndjamena, Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula
The exchanges were lively. Media bosses are angry: no Chadian private media has gone to Doha to cover the negotiations between authorities and rebel groups. A humiliation for Moussa Avenir de la Tchirée, spokesperson for the collective of private media in Chad.
” The Transitional Military Council itself asked us to accompany the process, we gave the best of ourselves because we are newspapers, radio stations, television stations, online press and we are being chased away crucial moment in the process. The pre-Doha dialogue is the crucial start of the process. We think it’s a humiliation. »
Some media bosses claim that the authorities want to hide what is happening in Doha. False, replies the Minister of Communication, Abderaman Koulamallah: “ No one has been excluded from the Doha process, there have been sudden changes in the organization of this dialogue and that has somewhat disrupted our organization. We are evolving to find a solution so that the national press as a whole can cover the events of Doha. »
It’s not enough to calm people down. The private media collective gives the authorities 48 hours to send journalists to Doha. Otherwise, the media will no longer cover the transition process. The Union of Chadian Journalists has called for a day without the press this Saturday in Chad.
►Also read: Chadian pre-dialogue, new postponement of discussions in Doha