While the Angel had up to 14 days to publish the provisional overall result of the presidential election, the Chadian election management agency proceeded with their proclamation on Thursday, May 9 to everyone’s surprise, barely three days after the vote. This sparks controversy over the reliability of the proclaimed results.
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Everyone was taken by surprise Thursday afternoon in Ndjamena, when the Angel announced that she would publish the provisional results early in the evening.
Specialists in Chad wonder how the National Election Management Agency was able to collect, at the sub-prefecture and provincial level, the more than 26,000 counting reports from polling stations before sending them to its headquarters in Ndjamena where they were compiled, entered manually.
All this in just three days, while it took between ten days and three weeks for the results to be announced in all previous presidential elections.
For Sitack Yombatini, one of the lieutenants of candidate Succès Masra, such a rapid compilation of results is physically impossible. “ We returned Thursday with the representatives of the Angel on the night of the 8th to the 9th, some arrived on the 9th. They cannot file the reports, then have a result four or five hours later. »
A vision contested by Mahamat Assileck Halata, Minister of Territorial Planning and support of Mahamat Idriss Déby. For him, the Angel strictly stuck to the law: “ Things went normally, first the provisional results, the compilations of minutes were made in the regions, the Angel had time to receive them and be able to declaim them in front of everyone. »
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Irregularities pointed out
At the same time, several electoral civil society organizations did not obtain authorization to observe the elections. Despite everything, some have discreetly deployed their agents on the ground. Gombo Breye Houzibé, general rapporteur of the Observatory of associations on the electoral process in Chad (Oapet), criticizes the lack of transparency of the vote.
“ There were things of enormous gravity, he points out: absence of electoral lists, we were obliged to write the names of voters on loose sheets, we did not even require a voter card. In certain areas, there was not even secrecy of the vote, because the voting booths were not up to standard. The recounts did not resemble free recounts. In some places, ballot boxes were taken away by security forces. »
Gombo Breye Houzibé promises the upcoming publication of a report concerning these irregularities. According to the authorities, observers from Ceeac, OIF, CenSad and even African NGOs were deployed on the ground.
Clément Abaïfouta, member of the transitional Parliament who campaigned in President Déby’s camp, recognizes shortcomings, but nothing that would call into question the results. He calls on both camps to dialogue. “ I remain satisfied, but we must still deplore certain behaviors, because there were deaths of people, arrests and setbacks by our security forces. […] But we should be able to sit down and look towards an emerging Chad. »
The official provisional results gave the president of the transition the winner in the first round with 61.03% of the votes. Prime Minister Succès Masra, credited with 18.53% of the votes, comes second, while Albert Pahimi Padacké obtains 16.91% of the votes, in third position.
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