The campaign for the upcoming presidential election on May 6th, which commenced on April 14, is in full swing across the country with all ten candidates vying for the position. Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, the transitional president and candidate of the United Chad coalition, held his tenth rally on Thursday in Moundou, the capital of the Logone Occidental province and the country’s economic hub.
Amidst dusty winds and stormy skies, Mahamat Déby made his appearance at the under-construction Moundou sports stadium. After presenting his socio-economic development agenda focused on local development and the youth of Chad, Mahamat Déby expressed confidence in securing victory in the first round of voting.
“Am I not a strong candidate? Am I not popular? Twenty-two political parties support me. There’s nothing to say. There’s no contest on May 6, it’s a knockout,” he declared.
He urged his supporters to exercise restraint in the face of “provocations from his competitors”: “I will go to sleep quietly without noise, but above all, remember the directives from the national campaign director, it’s very important. Do not provoke, and if they provoke you, ignore it, continue to raise awareness and share my socio-economic agenda.”
Meanwhile, candidate Théophile Bongoro, also campaigning in the south, and the delegation of the Group of Consultation of Political Actors (GCAP), advocating for a boycott, claimed to have been briefly blocked at the entrance of Moundou by security forces due to the president candidate’s rally.