The electoral process is advancing in Chad with the announcement of candidate lists by Ahmed Bartchiret, President of the National Agency for Elections (ANGE).
Candidate overview
For the legislative elections, 179 political parties and groups submitted a total of 1,321 candidates, 36.6 percent of whom are women. After a review, 1,274 applications were validated, while 46 were rejected due to non-compliance.
In the provincial elections, there are 1,260 candidates from 134 parties and groups, with 34.8 percent being women. The ANGE validated 1,157 of these applications.
For the municipal elections, 93 parties and groups proposed 6,156 candidates, including 34.2 percent women, with all submitted files found to be compliant.
For the diaspora involved only in the legislative elections, 24 candidates representing 16 parties or groups were assessed, with 12.5 percent being women. Of these, 18 candidates’ files were accepted.
Increased female participation
Ahmed Bartchiret announced an admirable level of female participation in these elections, with an overall rate of 34.61 percent. He attributed this success to the legislative framework that supports women’s advancement, particularly organic law n°013.
Appeal procedures
The Constitutional Council will handle appeals regarding the provisional lists for legislative elections, while district courts will manage appeals for provincial and municipal elections, with potential referrals to the Supreme Court. Rejected candidates have until November 18, 2024, to contest their disqualifications.
Rejected candidacies
Among the rejected applications was that of Mahamat Zen Bada, Secretary General of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), for the Abtouyour department. His application was denied due to his criminal record, which includes a 2012 conviction for public funds embezzlement. Although he received a pardon, the ANGE clarified that “a pardon does not erase the conviction recorded.” Two other MPS members, Ibrahim Wang Laouna Foullah and Mariam Djimet Ibet, were also rejected, mainly due to spelling discrepancies in their names. Additionally, the ANGE raised concerns regarding the morality of Mariam Djimet Ibet, the former mayor of Ndjamena, who has been imprisoned twice on embezzlement charges without a conviction.
Notably absent from these elections are members of the Les Transformateurs de Succes Masra party and the Groupe de Concertation des Acteurs Politiques (GCAP), both of which have opted to boycott the elections, demanding a revision of the election code.
