Chad's president Idriss Deby says legislative elections to be held in November

Chad’s president, Idriss Déby announced on Friday that legislative elections, initially scheduled for 2015, will take place in November 2018.

The development was reported by state radio as one of the resolutions that came out of a meeting the president had with members of the opposition.

The Chadian head of state announced on 31 December that parliamentary elections would be held “in 2018”, without specifying the month.

This election has been postponed several times. The third legislature in the Assembly was due to end on 21 June 2015, but a constitutional law had extended it.

In February 2017, the elections had been postponed, with President Déby citing logistical constraints. He said at the time that they would not take place until 2019, angering the opposition.

Idriss Déby met representatives of various opposition parties on Friday, including the Front de l’opposition nouvelle pour l’alternance et le changement (Fonac), which rejected the conclusions of a recent forum on institutional reforms boycotted by the entire opposition.

During his meeting with opponents, Idriss Déby also mentioned a possible reform of the National Framework for Political Dialogue (CNDP), a structure responsible for preparing the elections and bringing together members of the ruling party, the opposition and civil society.

AFP