Some 500 people demonstrated on Saturday February 26 at the call of the opposition against the military junta in power in Chad, also chanting slogans hostile to France, which they accuse of supporting the regime, reported an AFP journalist. .
Read alsoChad forced into new debt relief
On the very day of the announcement of the death of President Idriss Déby Itno on April 20, 2021, killed while going to the front against rebels after having ruled Chad for 30 years with an iron fist, his son General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, took power at the head of a Transitional Military Council (TMC) of 15 generals.
He immediately dissolved Parliament and government and repealed the Constitution but promised "
free and democratic elections
" within 18 months, renewable once.
France had immediately given noticeable support to the regime of the 37-year-old general, through the voice of its President Emmanuel Macron who came to N'Djamena, as well as the European Union and the African Union, provided that the deadline is maintained at 18 month.
At the call of the opposition platform Wakit Tamma in particular, the demonstrators marched calmly surrounded by a heavy police force.
They chanted slogans hostile to the CMT accused in particular of "
hindering public freedoms
".
"
Stop the human barbarity of the police
", "
France out of Chad
" could be read on placards and banners.
Then the demonstrators chanted “
No to France, yes to Russia
”, or even “
We want Russia as in Mali!
»
A Russian flag and a Chadian flag are unfurled during a demonstration in N'Djamena on February 26, 2022. DJIMET WICHE / AFP
Young people dragged a French flag hanging from a car on the ground and then trampled it, others displayed a Russian flag which they placed next to a Chadian flag.
"
The origin of Chad's evil is military
," Max Loalngar, spokesperson for Wakit Tamma, told the crowd, adding in particular: "
We see that France is using the military to kill us
."
The demonstrators also chanted slogans calling for a "
sincere dialogue
".
The junta promised as soon as it took power an inclusive National Dialogue open to the political opposition but also to all the many armed rebel movements that have been attacking power for decades.
Read alsoChad: Mahamat Déby's junta is working to consolidate its power
But this dialogue has already been postponed several times and is now scheduled for May 10.
However, it must be preceded on Sunday by a "
pre-dialogue
" between the government and the leaders of 23 rebel movements in Doha, but there is a very good chance that this will be postponed again because neither Qatar, which organized, nor a mediation committee dispatched by N'Djamena, have yet confirmed, the day before, that it will open well on Sunday.
Several rebel leaders assured AFP that they had not yet been able to leave their hideouts or countries of exile on Friday and have no chance of doing so by Sunday.