N’DJAMENA — A national dialogue in
Chad launched by the country’s military rulers will be extended by 10 days after
multiple interruptions, the forum agreed on Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
The so-called inclusive national dialogue aimed at
paving the way to restoring civilian rule began last month and was expected to
end on September 20. The closing ceremony will now be on September 30.
The process has been repeatedly delayed — with major
armed rebel groups and opposition parties boycotting it as they say it is a
narrow dialogue between the government and those friendly to it.
Chadian President
Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno heads a
transitional military council of 15 generals after taking power following his
father’s death battling rebels in April 2021.
He set up the dialogue with a view to holding “free
and democratic elections” within 18 months.
The forum has yet to begin substantive work to
achieve this goal.
Its president suspended a sitting on Saturday until
Monday to give more time to a committee seeking to persuade the boycotting
groups to join the dialogue.
But main opposition coalition Wakit Tamma and FACT —
one of Chad’s two main armed rebel groups — announced their definitive boycott
of the reconciliation process over “repression”.
The body leading the dialogue on Tuesday submitted a
new agenda to the gathering of 1,400 delegates, which was adopted.
The spokesman for
the dialogue, Limane Mahamat, said the forum would not have enough time to
cover all the themes and debates by September 20, and so recommended an
extension of 10 days.
In addition to the majority of the political
opposition, several civil society groups and professional associations
boycotted the forum or withdrew from the dialogue shortly before it began.
Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, has
endured repeated uprisings and unrest since independence from France in 1960.
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