Chadians turned out early on Monday to cast ballots in a referendum on whether to scrap presidential term limits, a move that would allow President Idriss Deby to run for an unprecedented third term as leader of Africa’s newest oil producer.
A loose grouping of about 30 opposition parties, the Coordination of Parties in Defence of the Constitution, urged supporters to boycott the constitutional referendum, accusing the ruling party of rigging the vote through a fraudulent voters’ roll.
One opposition party, however, urged its members to register their objection by voting against the constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement.
Provisional results are to be released on June 21.
Deby, who seized power in a 1990 coup but introduced multiparty politics to this poor Central African nation in 1991, won elections in 1996 and 2001. Under the current Constitution, the 53-year-old is barred from 2006 elections.
Voters will also decide in the referendum whether to abolish the Upper House of Parliament formally.
Deby called opposition leaders ”irresponsible” for calling for a boycott.
”The key issue is not to say yes or no, but to participate in a democratic process,” he said after casting his vote.
The current Constitution, passed by referendum in March 1996, provides for a Senate that has yet to be created. Under proposed constitutional amendments, the Senate will be replaced by an advisory economic, social and cultural council. Its members will all be nominated by the president.
A vote endorsing the constitutional amendments would ”make Chad a monarchy and establish a presidency for life”, opposition parties said in a statement last week.
”I am not voting to ratify introduction of a dynasty rule,” opposition supporter Alladoum Justin said while walking on the streets of the capital, Ndjamena.
Businessman Idriss Hissein disagreed, saying Deby should be allowed to complete development programmes and reform the army.
”He is the one, at the moment, who has control over those thousands of armed people all over the country,” Hissein said, referring to the numerous former armed factions that were integrated into the national army after Deby seized power in 1990.
”Let him, at least, implement the decisions of the army review commission for a peaceful Chad.”
Electoral chief Djimtebaye Lapia said voting went smoothly despite minor problems, including voters not knowing at which polling stations they were supposed to cast ballots.
Members of Chad’s nomadic communities will cast their ballots on June 10, four days after the rest of the country votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has said 5,3-million of Chad’s estimated eight million people registered to vote in 1 825 polling stations.
Opposition parties, however, accuse the ruling party of inflating the voters’ roll in an effort to skew results in its favour.
Polls opened at 7am local time and were due to close at 6pm. — Sapa-AP