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CHAD-POLITICS-UNREST INTERVIEW
Chad ex-president urges junta to include rebels in ‘dialogue’
N’DJAMENA, May 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Two weeks after veteran Chadian
leader Idriss Deby Itno was mortally wounded fighting a rebel force,
one of his predecessors, ex-president Goukouni Weddeye, has called for
inclusive dialogue to “save Chad”.
Goukouni, who ruled the turbulent Sahel country from 1980 to 1982,
urged “reconciliation to end our quarrels,” in a process that would
embrace the Libyan-based rebels who claimed Deby’s life.
The rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT)
mounted an offensive in April, threatening to advance on the capital
N’Djamena, before the army fought them back.
A junta, formally known as the Transitional Military Council (CMT),
took over after Deby’s death and on Sunday named a transitional
government.
The junta’s head, Deby’s 37-year-old son Mahamat, has vowed to
eradicate the rebel force, ruling out negotiations.
But Goukouni, 77, said in an interview with AFP “the destruction of
the country” was the major risk, and questioned the hard line.
“We have to bring them (the rebels) in too. We cannot consider them
as criminal enemies and reject them. It is impossible,” he said,
suggesting a “round table” negotiating format.
Dressed in an immaculate white robe and sporting a neatly trimmed
goatee, Goukouni has evolved into a statesman since his early rebel
days.
A figure who rarely makes public comments, he is being courted by
leading players in the country’s crisis, one of his aides said.
– Succession of rebellions –
Goukouni’s nemesis was the ruthless Hissene Habre, sentenced by a
special African court in Senegal in 2016 to life in jail for crimes
against humanity.
It was the elder Deby who overthrew Habre in 1990, going on to
repel several coup attempts and uprisings to rule for 30 years,
winning a string of elections in the face of a fragmented opposition
and boycotts. In the hours before he died, Deby was proclaimed victor
of the latest presidential poll in a landslide.
Since Chad’s independence from France in 1960, the country has
never seen a transfer of power through the ballot box. Goukouni, Habre
and Deby each led a rebellion in their time.
Chad was thrown into turmoil by Deby’s death, announced just the
day after he was declared the winner of an April 11 election — giving
him a sixth mandate after 30 years at the helm.
Now, almost a fortnight after the junta took over, uncertainty
reigns in the former French colony of around 16 million people.
Goukouni warned that opportunists could swoop in during a power vacuum.
Supporting the army would be the only way to ensure democratic
elections down the road, he argued. The junta has vowed a transition
within 18 months.
Chad, with a well respected fighting force, is central to the
West’s fight against jihadists in the Sahel, where myriad Islamist
extremist groups operate.
Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke paid a visit last week to
Goukouni in the sumptuous residence the former rebel leader received
from the senior Deby in 2009 upon his return from 22 years in exile.
Goukouni warned against vindictiveness.
The CMT “cannot talk like someone who wants a vendetta,” he said.
“We should not throw salt into the wound.”
BSS/AFP/MRU/1125hrs