Chadian authorities have announced that ten candidates, including two fierce opponents of the military regime, would be barred from running in the May 6 presidential election.
The constitutional court stated that the candidates’ applications, specifically those of outspoken opponents Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh, were rejected due to “irregularities”.
Ten other candidates remain in the race, including current junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and his prime minister, Succes Masra.
In 2021, a junta of 15 generals proclaimed General Deby Itno as president following the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled the Sahel country with an iron fist for more than three decades.
Succes Masra, a former opposition leader, reached a reconciliation agreement with the junta leader earlier this year.
The opposition claims his candidacy is a ruse to add a veneer of pluralism to an election that Deby Itno will undoubtedly win because his main rivals are dead or in exile.