(3 minutes read)
· People of Chad have cast their votes for electing a new president yesterday (Sunday)
· It was a tense time since there were reports about plots to assassinate prominent political figures and bomb polling stations. The opposition called for a boycott of the election
· Unemployment is rampant in the Francophone country. Over 42 percent of the population live below the poverty line
· Unemployment is increasing; over 22 percent of people under 25 are unemployed, according to a World Bank statistics dating 2018.
People of Chad have cast their votes for electing a new president yesterday (Sunday). It was a tense time since there were reports about plots to assassinate prominent political figures and bomb polling stations. The opposition called for a boycott of the election.
Recently, Chad’s interior ministry arrested several people, including politicians allegedly for plotting to assassinate prominent political figures and bomb polling stations. The headquarters of the electoral commission was also in the alleged list of places to be bombed.
Idriss Deby (68) who has been the leader of the country for long 30-years may get a sixth term. A good number of his challengers were either barred or quit the fray. Protests have also been banned or violently dispersed. There has been a crackdown on dissent, while Chad has been struggling with poverty and instability since gaining independence from France in 1960.
Deby, 68, is a former rebel and career soldier who seized power in a coup in 1990. With French military help, he has twice thwarted attempts by rebels to oust him and has been a key ally in the French-led fight against jihadists in the Sahel. Unemployment is rampant in the Francophone country. Over 42 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Unemployment is increasing. Over 22 percent of people under 25 are unemployed, according to a World Bank statistics dating 2018.
