Chad: Goukouni Weddeye disembarked from the process of dialogue with rebel groups
Former Chadian President Goukouni Weddeye in Ndjamena on May 2, 2021. © ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Former Chadian President Goukouni Weddeye was dropped from the dialogue process a few days before the start of the Doha meeting.
He was responsible for negotiating with the country's politico-military movements with a view to their participation in the inclusive national dialogue to be organized in May in Ndjamena.
The Chadian Prime Minister signed a decree on Wednesday morning for the establishment of a new special committee led this time by the head of Chadian diplomacy.
Advertising
Read more
The former Chadian president admits that he was taken aback this morning, when he was received by Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké, who told him that his committee had been dismissed and replaced by a new structure in charge of negotiations strictly speaking with the politico-military, which are supposed to start on Sunday in Doha.
Goukouni Weddeye did not want to discuss the reasons for his sidelining.
“
You have to ask the question to those who made the decision
,” he says.
He says he leaves with a sense of accomplishment, even if he feels that his mission was not yet finished.
"
Personally, I don't regret it at all, because the committee worked very well
," says the former president.
We contacted our brothers in the politico-military where they are, they trusted us.
We do not reproach ourselves for anything.
And as things evolve now, we let the national and international opinion judge.
»
But proof that he did not appreciate being "
brutally landed
", according to the term used by those around him, he says he declined Pahimi Padacké's proposal to bring him with him to Doha, as a member of his delegation.
►
To read also: Chad: will the rebels participate in the national dialogue?
On the government side, no one has wanted to speak officially so far.
But our sources assure that it is several factors combined which are at the origin of this decision.
According to one of them, there were hiccups between the Special Technical Committee chaired by Goukouni Weddeye and the Qataris, who allegedly demanded state interlocutors from the government.
Hence the choice of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cherif Mahamat Zène, with whom they have already dealt, as chief negotiator for the Chadian authorities.
Another source adds that the CTS had already carried out its mission which was to convince all the politico-military groups to participate in the Doha pre-dialogue.
The Transitional Military Committee at the head of Chad has therefore decided to set up a new committee headed by a man from the seraglio, "
whom he trusts
", said this source.
►
To read also: In Chad, preparations for talks in Doha between authorities and rebels are accelerating
But since the sidelining of the CTS led by Goukouni Weddeyel, many among the politico-military have begun to doubt whether the March 13 date for the start of the pre-dialogue will be respected.
But there too, no Chadian official agreed to speak officially until Wednesday evening.
According to our sources in Ndjamena, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the new committee in charge of dialogue with the politico-military is taking the plane this Thursday morning for Doha.
His mission: to make the final adjustments alongside the Qataris so that the negotiations can be launched this Sunday, as planned.
The other members of his committee will join him in two days.
As for the sixty representatives of Chadian politico-military groups expected in Doha, it is not certain that they will be there on Sunday due to “
logistical problems which have multiplied
”, according to our sources.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Chad