In Chad, there are also civilian populations who aspire to a change of trajectory
Audio 03:20
Gilles Yabi, head of the Wathi Think tank.
© Samuelle Banga
By: Gilles Yabi Follow
8 mins
Publicity
RFI: Two weeks ago, commenting on the presidential election in Chad, you said that the longevity in power of heads of state in Central Africa was a major risk factor and serious uncertainties for the coming years. Chad seems to be already there after the brutal disappearance of President Idriss Déby the day after the announcement of his landslide victory in the presidential election
Gilles Yabi
: Yes, the death of President Déby was obviously a great surprise, a shock for everyone. The day after his funeral, we must salute the memory of an African personality who will have marked his time and who will have distinguished himself by a certain number of qualities, his bravery, his attachment to the territorial integrity of his country. We must salute and respect his memory but also that of all the direct and indirect victims of the two regimes he served as Chief of Staff and then as Head of State.
As might be expected, there was no long hesitation about respecting the Constitution.
He was the president's most senior son who took power alongside the regime's other most influential generals.
It is hard not to fear that the announced transition - totally controlled by the military council - will lead to a new era of military power which will simply be requalified into a democratic power after a manipulated election.
Serious uncertainties over the future of Chad but also over a large part of the continent, say all observers
Yes, the analyzes of the geopolitical consequences of the disappearance of President Déby can be counted in the tens. Many analysts even come to forget that the issue of the post-Déby period is not only the fight against terrorism, security in the Sahel and in the Lake Chad basin or the security of the Central African Republic. .
In Chad, there is not only a reservoir of soldiers available for external operations, tens of thousands of weapons of war, military bases, a lot of sand and a little oil.
There are also 16 million inhabitants, civilian populations, men and women, overwhelmingly young, who would like to live one day in a more or less normal country, in peace, without a rebellion here or there, without violations. freedoms, and with more access to water, education, health, economic activities ...
Everyone knows it and says it openly now: the reigns of Hissène Habré and then Idriss Déby, 39 years old in total, were largely the result of the choices of alliances and breaks made by external actors, in particular France. and the United States.
The late President Déby declared in a
memorable interview
with the Internationales program of TV5 Monde and RFI in June 2017 that “
France has always intervened in Chadian politics and that it would have even forced it to modify the Constitution to maintain itself. in power in 2006 when he wanted to retire
”.
It would be distressing for the people of Chad if it were once again the agendas of regional and international actors who alone decide on the country's trajectory for the next two or three decades.
What form of transition do you recommend?
A transition formula that would be the result of internal dialogue.
It would be much more acceptable than giving a blank check to a military council in the context of an army riddled with tensions and a Chadian society that has so often suffered from the excesses of untouchable generals.
However, we must also be realistic: the need to avoid the decomposition of the country and the installation here and there of armed gangs is just as imperative as that of triggering real democratization.
Both objectives must be pursued at the same time.
Find the file on Chad on the
Wathi
site
.
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Chad
Idriss Deby Itno