Chad votes in uneasy elections

2006-05-03 14:46

N'Djamena - Chad's incumbent presidential candidate, Idriss Deby Itno, cast his vote in presidential elections in the country on Wednesday.

The elections have been boycotted by opposition parties and shadowed by rebels committed to toppling Deby from power.

Virtually certain of victory, Deby said the elections were going ahead despite the boycott and repeated clashes with United Front for Change (FUC) rebels.

Deby said as he dropped his ballot into a box at a polling station set up inside the ministry of agriculture.

Deby said: "The most important thing is that we have kept our promise by holding these elections on May 3, as required by the constitution."

He said Chadians were not shunning the polls.

The country's main opposition leaders are boycotting the vote. They also boycotted the 2005 constitutional referendum, which made it possible for Deby to run for a third term.

The opposition claims Deby has built a regime based on clans and corruption, and that he is siphoning off oil earmarked for the development of his desperately poor nation.

Rebels promise no violence on election day

The co-ordination of political parties for defence of the constitution (CPDC), the country's main opposition grouping, had called for the vote to be postponed.

Chadian bishops, the African Union and the United States supported the proposed postponement, citing rebel attacks and the crisis in Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region.

The other four presidential candidates are part of Deby's government.

On Tuesday, FUC leader Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, said his rebel forces would not foment any violence in the capital on election day. He would not exclude actions in other regions of the country.

International observers believe the FUC is backed by Sudan.

About 5.8 million voters, out of a population of 8.8 million, are eligible to cast ballots at 11 800 polling stations in Chad on Wednesday.

Deby seized power in 1990 when he overthrew Hissene Habre.

He was elected in 1996 and re-elected five years later, in a poll criticised by the opposition but not boycotted by it.

Vote counting was expected to begin on Wednesday evening, but official results will not be made public until May 14.

- AFP