President vs Prime Minister: What’s at stake in Chad presidential election?

Chad has been battling political upheaval since 2021 when longtime ruler Idriss Deby died and his son seized power.

Chadians head to the polls on Monday to elect a new president in what could be the nation’s most-watched election in three decades.

The polls will mark the end of a transition to democracy by the ruling military government, one of several currently in power in West and Central Africa. But some experts say the vote is just to formalise the military’s hold on power.

Chad has been in the throes of political upheaval since 2021, when interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby first seized power amid fierce resistance by opposition forces who challenged his legitimacy.

This February, the chaos crescendoed after government forces fatally shot Yaya Dillo – one of the strongest opposition figures – and his supporters at their party headquarters in the capital, N’Djamena.

At the same time, Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world, with at least 40 percent of the 17 million population living below the poverty line. The war in neighbouring Sudan has also pushed more than 500,000 people into Chad, adding further pressure even as fears of a spillover conflict simmer.