The leader of the opposition posted a filmed speech on his Facebook account on the occasion of the country’s national holiday, this August 11th, 2023. The leader of the Transformers party has been living in exile abroad since the deadly crackdown on protests on October 20th, 2022.
On Facebook, Succès Masra declares that he wants to favor dialogue and reconciliation and plans to return to Chad without specifying the date.
“I would like to tell you some good news,” he begins. “We’re all going home, we will be keen to find you on the ground because of the mission that you have entrusted to us to travel the world, so that no one comes to tell you that they did not know what was going on, and so we will – because we have finished the mission you gave us – to have the opportunity to return”.
He insists, “We will return with a new state of mind, determined, to fight by your side. We are also going to return with new tools, with new shields. We have started several actions, because we are determined to give priority, despite the massacres”.
Succès Masra concludes, “We hope to be able to return with all the possible agreements. But even if there is no agreement in the end, this country is ours and the popular shield cannot be abandoned. This national reconciliation must be capable of guaranteeing the security of all. Today, I would say that the ball is in the court of our brother’s opposite”.
Opponent Succès Masra had fled the territory after the crackdown on what was later called “Black Thursday”. Several opposition parties then called for demonstrations, despite the ban on the authorities, against the extension of the transition and the continued leadership of Mahamat Idriss Deby.
In the process, the president of the Transformers party went into hiding, before finally deciding to leave the territory. He then asked the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into the events of October 20th.
On April 26th, 2023, the Chadian League for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture published a report on these events on Wednesday.