Chad sets December 17 as date for constitutional referendum

July 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Chadian authorities have announced that the referendum on the new Constitution will take place on December 17, which will be one of the main steps established by the junta to complete an open transition in April 2021 after the death in combat of the until then president, Idriss Déby.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Good Governance, Limane Mahamat, who is also president of the National Commission in Charge of the Organization of the Constitutional Referendum (CONOREC), has specified that the review of the electoral lists will take place between July 24 and on September 6, after which the new census will be presented on September 12.

After that, the electoral campaign for the referendum is scheduled to start on November 25 and end on December 15, while “the vote of Chadian nomads abroad and members of the Defense and Security Forces will take place on December 16 “, as reported by the Chadian news portal Tchad Infos.

Just one day later, the vote will take place in the interior of the country, while CONOREC will announce the results on December 26, after which a process will be opened for the delivery of provisional results to the Supreme Court, which must ratify them in order to continue. with the promulgation process of the new Magna Carta.

The draft Constitution was approved at the end of December by the National Transition Council (CNT) –the transition Parliament–, with 96.1 percent, after a dialogue process between August and October 2022 to address the transition process, boycotted by various opposition parties and rebels.

After it, the authorities announced a two-year extension of the transition period and to maintain the head of the military junta, Mahamat Idriss Déby –Idriss Déby’s son–, as head of state, who will be able to stand in the elections.

Mahamat Idriss Déby took office after the death of his father in a military operation against the rebel group Front for Alternation and Harmony in Chad (FACT), after 30 years in power. The current ruler had promised to return power to civilians after 18 months, which expires this month.