Communiqué   par Tournons la Page

Tournons La Page (TLP) has just taken note of the declaration of the Transitional Military Council announcing the death of Field Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad, who was killed "while defending territorial integrity on the battlefield". The death comes a day after the CENI announced provisional results that would give the incumbent president a majority in the first round. TLP had denounced an electoral process marred by multiple frauds.

In the absence of the establishment of the Senate, which was reinstated by the constitutional revision of December 2020, TLP refers to the Chadian Constitution of 2018, which stipulates, in Article 81, that « in the event of a vacancy in the Presidency of the Republic [...], the powers of the President of the Republic, [...] shall be provisionally exercised by the President of the National Assembly. In all cases, new presidential elections shall be held at least forty-five (45) days and at most ninety (90) days after the vacancy has occurred.»

However, the declaration of the Transitional Military Council announces that one of the sons of the deceased, Mahamat Idriss Déby, 37 years old, Lieutenant General and Commander of the Presidential Guard, is heading a Transitional Military Council that suspends and replaces all state institutions. This act is a military coup, a practice from another time that is making a strong comeback in Africa for lack of democratic alternation, term limits, and following repeated fraudulent elections, all of which Tournons La Page has denounced since its inception in 2014.

It is essential for the return to the rule of law that constitutional order be restored, that transparent elections be organized, and that the international community accompany the country in this direction.

Tournons La Page supports the members of TLP-Chad and all activists and human rights defenders in these troubled times.

PRESS CONTACTS :

Marc ONA ESSANGUI

President of Tournons La Page

onamarc@protonmail.com / Tel: +241 66 26 06 17

Laurent DUARTE

Executive Secretary of Tournons La Page

laurent.duarte@tournonslapage.org / Phone : +33 6 38 83 13 31