Opposition parties called on Chadians to boycott the elections, describing them as a mere hoax aimed at consolidating the power of the ruling party.
Voting has begun in Chad’s general election, which President Mohamed Idriss Déby Itno has portrayed as a major step in the transition to democracy, but is being boycotted by the country’s opposition parties.
Members of the armed forces and nomadic tribes in Chad were summoned to vote on Saturday for logistical reasons.
But most people in the African nation of about 20 million will cast their votes on Sunday to choose a national parliament, regional assemblies and local councils. Polls will be open from 6am to 5pm local time (05:00 to 16:00 GMT).
Reporting from the capital, N’Djamena, on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi said many Chadians described feeling “apathy” in the run-up to the vote.
“They say they don’t expect to see any changes. They say they believe the ruling party will win no matter what.”
“A lot of them just talk about…bread and butter issues: they say the cost of living is too high. They talk about rampant corruption and nepotism.”
The country’s opposition parties called on people to boycott the elections, which they described as fraudulent.
The main opposition Transformers Party said in a Facebook post: “No campaign, no vote on December 29. Stay at home and ask others to do the same.”
However, about 45% of the 200,000 Bedouin tribesmen and 45,000 soldiers had cast their votes by midday on Saturday, according to preliminary estimates.
Agence France-Presse reported that army personnel began arriving early at the polling station in the Kondoul barracks near N’Djamena.
“Voting is proceeding normally. The army is voting freely,” said Othman Hozibe, a senior election administration official.
“Serious concern”
The elections are taking place against the backdrop of repeated attacks launched by the Boko Haram rebel group in the Lake Chad region.
Chad also recently ended a military agreement with its former colonial power, France, and the country has faced accusations of interference in the conflict engulfing neighboring Sudan.
President Deby’s government has presented this weekend’s elections as a key stage in the transition to democratic rule.
The 40-year-old leader took power in 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, who ruled the country with an iron fist for three decades.
Analyst Mamadou Boudian said the elections represented an “important milestone”, as they ended a three-year transitional period, but were nonetheless fiercely contested and seen as favoring the ruling National Redemption Movement party.
“Even the electoral management body is seen as dominated by individuals loyal to the ruling party,” Boudiane told Al Jazeera. “This raises serious concerns not only about the process, but also about the independence of the entire electoral system.”
The lack of international observers and an “opaque” vote-counting process also exacerbate long-standing mistrust in Chad’s elections, Boudien said.
He added that the opposition boycott “reflects a widespread belief that these elections are neither free nor fair.” “This casts doubt on Chad’s democratic prospects.”
Deby won a five-year presidential term in May after elections that the opposition denounced as fraudulent. The last legislative elections date back to 2011.
