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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000612 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KDEM PGOV CD
SUBJECT: CHAD: ELECTION PREPARATIONS 
 
 
NDJAMENA 00000612  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Chadian presidential election campaign 
ends midnight on May 1, with elections scheduled for May 3. 
From the field of 5 original candidates it appears that only 
four remain.  Opposition groups continue to call for a "ville 
morte" (dead city) on May 3 and for citizens to boycott the 
elections.  The President's MPS Party has invested 
considerable effort (and money) into promotional activities 
for the campaign, and N'djamena has been awash with rallies, 
posters, and other campaign paraphernalia. It is widely 
believed that monetary inducements have contributed to swell 
the ranks of the MPS faithfuls during these rallies.  Chadian 
Ministers have gone to the provinces to get the vote out, and 
President Deby himself traveled to Mongo (site of a rebel 
attack April 11), Am Timam, Abeche and Sahr. Fearing 
election-related violence, many in Chad's remaining 
international community and reportedly a fair number of 
Chadians have decided to spend the week in the Cameroonian 
town of Kousseri, across the river from N'djamena.  Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Apparently only four candidates remain out of the original 
five in the Chadian presidential race: President Idriss Deby, 
Kassire Coumakoye Delwa, Deputy Minister of Decentralization 
of the Viva/RNDP party, Mahamat Abdoulaye, former Minister of 
Telecommunications (MPDT party) and Payimi Padaket Albert, 
current Minister of Agriculture, of the RNDT/Reveil party. 
Ibrahim Koulamallah of the MSA/R party is reported to have 
withdrawn, stating that he was disturbed to discover that the 
election would not be free and fair.  He said that the final 
straw was hearing Radio France International (RFI) announce 
that President Deby was expected to win the election. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The campaign is supposed to wrap up on midnight on May 1, 
with elections scheduled for May 3 (which will be a national 
holiday). Opposition groups continue to call for a "ville 
morte" (dead city) on May 3 and for citizens to boycott the 
elections.  The President's MPS Party has gone all out to 
promote President Deby, with posters, campaign flyers, 
nightly rallies (with music) and van-loads of youths in new 
t-shirts and hats careening at high speed around N'djamena. 
It is a good time for those MPS supporters in the t-shirt 
business.  It is widely believed that many of the MPS 
boosters are paid.  Chadian Ministers have gone to the 
provinces to get the vote out, and President Deby himself 
traveled to Mongo (site of a rebel attack April 11), Am 
Timam, Abeche and Sahr earlier in the week. 
 
¶4. (SBU) DCM met with Ahmat Mahamat Bachir, President of Chad's 
independent electoral commission April 21 and 28 to discuss 
the upcoming Presidential elections May 3 and Embassy 
observation of the elections.  Bachir welcomed Embassy 
interest, and will be providing designated Embassy staff with 
ID cards and a "laissez-passer" in order to permit them to 
observe elections. Bachir reviewed the establishment of CENI, 
which was constituted on December 25, 2005.  CENI members 
swore to their neutrality before the Supreme Court, and have 
been occupied since then with the organization of the 
elections.  Bachir said that the budget for elections is 
approximately USD 10 million, of which the Government of Chad 
is paying USD 9 million (they still have a budget gap of 
about USD 1 million). 
 
¶5. (SCU) CENI has installed sub-branches throughout Chad, and 
intends to have some 2,700 CENI representatives spread out 
through the country. There will be 11,800 voting sites, of 
which 200 are overseas.  Bachir explained that all CENI 
members have received training.  This year they will be using 
transparent urns (he showed us the clear plastic boxes). All 
ballots, envelopes and badges have been printed.  The last 
truck transporting materials was scheduled to leave on April 
¶22.  Voting will start April 30 for nomads (who are given 4 
days to vote). Bachir explained that during the four days 
allocated for nomad voting, CENI representatives would be 
"following nomads" along their traditional migration routes 
in order to give them an opportunity to vote. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Asked about security, Bachir responded that they would be 
holding elections in all areas that were "controlled by the 
national government" and he did not have concerns about 
security.  He did not elaborate on which areas might be 
 
NDJAMENA 00000612  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
considered beyond the control of the national government. 
The electoral process is conducted as follows:  all citizens 
whose names appear on the electoral rolls are eligible to 
vote.  Citizens must vote in the district in which they are 
registered.  Counter identification is required in the form 
of a voter registration card as well as a national identity 
card (or birth certificate).  Bachir felt confident that 
voting age citizens would have these documents.  Voters will 
have their electoral card stamped, as well as fingers dipped 
in ink after voting. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Each polling site will have a President, Vice President, 
Rapporteur and Assistant Rapporteur and two assistants to 
tally the ballots.  There are supposed to be representatives 
of the candidates in each office.  (Comment:  this is highly 
unlikely to be the case, given the small membership base of 
the candidates' parties.  End comment).  All present sign a 
"process-verbal" which is sent to the Sous-Prefecture who 
then sends it on to N'djamena.  There are four copies of this 
Process Verbal -- one stays with the Chef de Department; one 
goes to N'djamena, and three go to the Conseil 
Constitutional.  If the Bureau says that there was fraud, the 
results are nullified. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Bachir told DCM that they might have as many as 1,000 
observers, including representatives from the Organization of 
French Speaking Countries (La Francophonie), from Benin and 
from Cote D'Ivoire.  However, based on attendance at a CENI 
event for observers held 4/28, Misoffs estimate the total 
number to be closer to 50 (excluding the U.S. Embassy). 
Chadian civil society will also be observing (Comment: we are 
still trying to ascertain which civil society groups will 
observe.  The one group which has expressed a willingness to 
do so - the Coordination of Civil Society and Human Rights 
Organizations - CASCIDHO -- is not considered to be 
independent based on its certification of the referendum). 
The African Union (AU) is sending 15 observers, according to 
an AU advance officer. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Chad has 5.6 million registered voters according to the 
CENI. The last national census in 1993 (considered to have 
been fairly accurate) showed that Chad had a population of 
6.2 million voters. In the absence of a more recent census, 
the population is generally estimated at 9.9 million.  Given 
normal demographic trends, the number of voters (citizens 
over 18) appears high, and Chadian opposition groups claim 
that eligible voters are more likely to number well under 5 
million. 
 
¶10. (SUB) Comment:  There is considerable unease in N'djamena as 
elections approach.  A good portion of those expatriates 
still in town (including EU-funded development workers, 
missionaries and non-Chadian Africans) have decided to spend 
election week in  the Cameroonian town of Kousseri. 
WALL