The Government of Chad has confirmed that it may initiate a process to request the final dissolution of seven opposition political parties temporarily suspended over protests late last month against the country’s transition process.
The suspension, in effect for three months, targeted such prominent formations as The Transformers, as well as the Popular Front for the Federation, the Socialist Party without Borders, The Patriots, Al Tajadoum, the Rally for Justice and Equality of Chadians and the Party of Democrats for Renewal.
The decree also targeted the political-civil movement Wakit Tamma, which groups other opposition parties and political associations.
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Limane Mahamat, whose portfolio is responsible for managing these suspensions, warned late on Friday that the Government does not rule out initiating «a dissolution procedure at the end of the suspension period», according to declarations reported by the portal ‘Al Wihda’. Mahamat indicated that the authorities will now investigate «the repentance» that these suspended organizations could exhibit, although these inquiries «would not hinder the dissolution procedure».
«Law enforcement has been neglected for too long,» the minister added.
The protests, which left at least half a hundred dead and more than 300 wounded, targeted the current Chadian leader, Mahamat Idriss Déby, whose mandate, installed by the Army in 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno.
Mahamat Déby’s mandate was consolidated for another two years in early October following «national dialogues» boycotted by most opposition members, as well as two of the three main armed rebel groups and numerous civil society organizations.
The two-year extension sparked these protests, which the Chadian government described as an «act of insubordination» encouraged by, among others, opposition leader Succès Masra and the aforementioned opposition political forces.
