As Chad prepares for the funeral of the former president, Idriss D\u00e9by, on Friday, opposition parties in the country have denounced the military takeover, calling it a coup d\u2019etat, and rebel forces are threatening to march on the capital N\u2019Djamena.<\/p>\n
Idriss D\u00e9by\u2019s son, General Mahamat Idriss D\u00e9by, formally took over control as interim president and commander of the armed forces on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
D\u00e9by said in his first public address that the army wanted to return power to civilian rule and free and democratic elections would be held in 18 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military council has no ambition to govern the country alone,\u201d he said in a speech to political party representatives, posted on the presidency website.<\/p>\n
The military also announced it had re-opened Chad’s borders, which were closed after Idriss D\u00e9by’s death.<\/p>\n
But rebels from the Libyan-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a group formed by dissident army officers, rejected the military\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe forces of national resistance are more than ever determined to deliver the Chadian people from this abominable dictatorship,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Opposition party leaders condemned what they called \u201cthe institutional coup d’etat conducted by the generals\u201d.<\/p>\n
Civil society organisations also called for a return to civilian rule and a coalition of armed groups demanded an inclusive national dialogue. Labour unions called for a workers\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n
Western allies said they were concerned that the death of Idriss D\u00e9by would negatively affect counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions.<\/p>\n
Idriss D\u00e9by was regarded by many as championing the fight against members of the Jam\u0101\u2019at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da\u2019way Wa\u2019l-Jih\u0101d (JAS), also known as Boko Haram, and the Islamic State in West Africa Province\u00a0(ISWAP), as well as insurgents from other militant groups.<\/p>\n
Abubakar Mohammed Kareto, a public affairs analyst in Maiduguri, also expressed concern for the region, saying Idriss D\u00e9by was \u201cthe only African leader who was known for fighting against terror groups in the Sahel region\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the need to fight against insurgent groups could not be overemphasised.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hoped that the interim president General Mahamat Idriss D\u00e9by will take up the fight against those who are trying to destabilise the region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that the insurgents will be happy about the news of Idriss D\u00e9by\u2019s death and will think that they can carry out their operations without any fear or hindrance. They shouldn\u2019t start jubilating yet because they don\u2019t know what plans Mahamat has against them. It is too early for them to celebrate the death of the lion of Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cMahamat can perform better than his late father if the countries across the Sahel and Lake Chad regions give him maximum support and cooperation in the fight against insurgents across the two regions,\u201d Kareto said.<\/p>\n
Residents in Maiduguri were divided in their opinions of Idriss D\u00e9by.<\/p>\n
Muhammed Muhammed Garga described him as an \u201cicon who protected his country for decades\u201d.<\/p>\n
But resident Musa Gambo said \u201cone man\u2019s hero is another man\u2019s villain\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIdriss D\u00e9by was not a saint. He come to power through a bloody coup that lasted for nine months before toppled his former boss causing one of the highest humanitarian crises in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Referring to Idriss D\u00e9by\u2019s son taking power, Gambo said political offices were not meant to be \u201cinherited\u201d. He said he feared \u201ccivil war\u201d in Chad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Chad prepares for the funeral of the former president, Idriss D\u00e9by, on Friday, opposition parties in the country have denounced the military takeover, calling it a coup d\u2019etat, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}