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Former Chadian PM calls on Constitutional Council to have recent vote annulled


FILE — Chad Prime Minister Succès Masra sits down for an interview at VOA headquarters in Washington, on February 29, 2024.
FILE — Chad Prime Minister Succès Masra sits down for an interview at VOA headquarters in Washington, on February 29, 2024.

Succes Masra, Chad’s former prime minister who came second in the nation’s recently held presidential election, on Sunday said he lodged a request with the Constitutional Council to have the vote annulled.

Masra’s announcement came after dozens of activists from his party were arrested and accused of having forged documents to get illegal access to vote counts.

Through a social media post on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, the former Chadian prime minister said, "with the help of our lawyers, we have today filed a request with the Constitutional Council to reveal the truth at the ballot boxes."

Masra shared a copy of a receipt showing that documents had been filed with the council, which officials close to him said included copies of results sheets from polling stations, a table pulling together the figures and videos that allegedly show ballot stuffing and other cheating.

Sitack Yombatina, the vice president of Masra’s Transformers Party told French media outlet Agence France-Presse, AFP, that their request "is for the annulment, pure and simple, of this electoral farce."

"All the evidence is in the USB keys," attached to the request lodged with the Constitutional Council, Yombatina said.

The Transformers Party officials included video footage of voting boxes being stuffed, thefts, threats, "but most of all ballot boxes that were taken away by the soldiers to be counted elsewhere," the vice president said.

Chadian electoral officials last week declared interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby the winner of the elections with 61.3% of the vote, while Masra placed a distant second with 18.53%. However, prior to the announcement, the former prime minister had claimed victory, alleging vote rigging was being planned.

A legal source that spoke to AFP said dozens of Transformers Party activists were arrested after being accused of forgery and using false documents during the presidential elections.

The party has denounced the arrests and the "ridiculous" charges against their activists.

Ndolembai Njesada, the Transformers Party Vice President for Political Affairs and the Diaspora told VOA that 179 activists were arrested while "carrying out their constitutional duty to observe the election."

Njesada denied the forgery allegations against their supporters.

"As a citizen (of Chad) you do not need any access card to be an observer of the elections. You do not have to have a specific document to observe the voting process. So regardless of the narrative, no citizen should be arrested for watching the elections," he said, adding, "the nation's law authorizes citizens to observe."

Political tensions are running high in the Central African nation, the first of a string of coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to attempt a return to constitutional rule. Deby seized power in April 2021 when rebels killed his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby.

At least 10 people, including children, were killed and dozens were injured by celebratory gunfire on Friday following the announcement of the results, according to Amnesty International and Chadian media.

Chad's health ministry confirmed that several people were hurt during the celebration of Deby's win but asked journalists not to film or report on patients inside hospitals, a move condemned by Chad's press unions.

Masra is a former fierce critic of Deby. Although Deby appointed him prime minister four months before the presidential election, he ran against him.

The country's opposition, which has been violently repressed and its leading figures barred from standing, had in any case dismissed Masra as a stooge who was allowed to run to give the campaign a "democratic veneer."

Early in the campaign, observers predicted a massive win for Deby, 40, whose top rival was killed earlier this year.

Deby was proclaimed transitional president three years ago by his fellow generals after his father, iron-fisted president Idriss Deby Itno, had been killed by rebels after 30 years in power.

The outcome of Chad’s elections is expected to be finalized by May 23.

VOA's James Butty contributed to this report. Some information was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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