Chad - February 2025

Chad held indirect Senatorial elections on 25 February, which were the first in its history and were won by President Mahamat Déby’s ruling party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (Mouvement Patriotique du Salut, MPS). According to official results, MPS secured 43 of the 46 elected seats in the Senate, the remaining three seats were won by the National Rally of Chadian Democrats (Rassemblement national des démocrates Tchadiens - le Réveil, RNDT–Le Réveil) (two seats) and the Union for Renewal and Democracy (Union pour le renouveau et la démocratie, URD) (one seat), respectively. Several opposition parties boycotted the election, claiming that it would not be credible. The senators were elected by an electoral college of municipal and provincial counsellors. A further 23 senators were appointed by President Déby on 4 March, most of which came from MPS. Twenty five of the 69 senators (36.2 per cent) are women, in conformity with a gender quota target of 30 per cent. Chad’s new bicameral parliament was established by a 2020 constitutional reform and later confirmed by the 2023 constitution. The elections formally end the country’s transition to democracy that began after the 2021 unconstitutional change of government that first brought Déby to power. He was subsequently elected President in May 2024.

Sources: Radio France Internationale, Associated Press News, Agence Presse Africaine, International IDEA, Africa 24, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Barron's