Chad held its long delayed presidential election on May 5 following three years of military rule under the interim president, Mahamat Deby Itno, a vote that analysts widely expected the incumbent to win.
Deby Itno seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021. His government announced it was extending the 18-month transition for two more years, which provoked protests across the country.
The oil-exporting country—one of the poorest in the world—has not had a free-and-fair transfer of power since it became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule. There were 10 candidates on the ballot, including a woman. More than 8 million people are registered to vote, in a country of more than 17 million people.
A leading opposition figure, Yaya Dillo, the current president’s cousin, was killed in February in circumstances that remain unclear. The main other frontrunner, Succès Masra, in the race is a former opposition leader who recently returned from exile to serve as prime minister in January.
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