N’DJAMENA, Chad
Nearly 200 Chadians
from parties claiming to be "opposition", took to the streets of
N'Djamena on Wednesday in a rally to demonstrate their "unwavering
support" for the military power led by the son of President Idriss Déby
who died in April.
General Mahamat Déby
This was the first demonstration authorized by the
Transitional Military Council (TMC), which proclaimed itself the head of the
country on April 20 following the announcement of the death of Marshal Déby,
who had ruled Chad with an iron fist for 30 years.
For several years, demonstrations by the anti-government
opposition have been systematically banned and violently dispersed.
On Wednesday, nearly 200 activists responded to the call of
New Vision, a platform of 42 parties calling themselves opposition, to
demonstrate calmly for an hour in N'Djamena, well supervised by the police,
according to an AFP journalist who followed them.
On Sunday, a similar demonstration project had been
authorized by the government for the first time but had been aborted due to a
lack of demonstrators.
"New
Vision gives its unwavering support to the CMT and the transitional
government," read a large banner at the head of the procession on
Wednesday. Or "New
Vision says no to war and yes to peace and stability".
This was a repeat of the promises made by the CMT, led by Mahamat Déby, 37.
As soon as the death of Idriss Déby was announced, the CMT
dissolved the National Assembly and the government and abrogated the
constitution, before proclaiming Mahamat Déby president of the Republic for a
"transitional" period of 18 months, at the end of which the junta
promises "free and transparent elections.
"We
support this transition because we have no other choice when the institutions
are not there. The CMT is fighting for the survival of the Chadian
nation," Mahamat
Adoum, president of Vision Nouvelle, pleaded, calling on the military to "respect their
commitments" to free elections and an "inclusive dialogue".
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