The talks between the Chadian authorities and the opposition, which began in Qatar, were suspended on Sunday. The rebel group FACT highlighted certain imbalances surrounding this “pre-dialogue”.
"This instinctive and collective management of the massacre dilutes responsibility", said the novelist Jean Teulé. At the opening of the Chadian "pre-dialogue" between power and opposition, this Sunday, March 13 in Doha, poco x3 pro price tunisia the Front pour l'alternance et la concorde au Tchad (FACT), a rebel group accused in particular of the murder of former president Idriss Déby Itno, has just slammed the door of the talks.
A twist that puts an end to ten months of preparation, to bring around the same table – or rather several tables – the representatives of 59 rebel and politico-military groups of the Chadian opposition.
But what FACT is asking for above all is to clarify Qatar's role in these talks. There is no doubt that since the marginalization of one of the major authors of this "peace dialogue", the former President of Chad Goukouni Weddeye, there is a vacuum.
And Qatar is no stranger to this sidelining. According to Young Africa, the elimination of Weddeye from his role of mediator is an initiative of the diplomat of Qatar, Moutlaq Al Qahtani, and the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chérif Mahamat Zene.
Power and opposition get along… not to get along
FACT therefore demanded that “Qatar confirm its position as mediator. If not, we cannot go back and find ourselves around the table with the Chadian government, face to face, without a mediator”.
The rebel group also deplores the disproportionate number of rebel groups around the table. He considers the number of politico-military groups – 59 – too large compared to the reality on the ground. A strategy that will allow the power to “dilute the voice of the main armed groups in the negotiation”, according to FACT.
Thus, the Chadian government and the Qatari authorities have decided to postpone the "pre-dialogue" for 72 hours. A commission of ten people should "present a proposal by harmonizing the positions" of each other.
However, it should be remembered that the success of this "pre-dialogue" is a condition for the holding of the national dialogue scheduled for May 10, which aims to prepare for the elections. The Chadian military leader, Mahamat Déby, son of Idriss Déby, had pledged to hold the first elections before the end of the year. If necessary, he will have to renew the duration of the transition for an additional 18 months, which, no doubt, will upset the “international community”.
Failure in sight?
Prior to the start of this meeting in Doha, Mahamat Déby operated a general amnesty for prisoners of war and opponents. However, few FACT members were affected by this state of grace.
Discussions with rebel leaders from other groups also took place. In particular, the Erdimi brothers, leaders of the RFC and UFR groups. The latter were removed from the "pre-dialogue" at the last minute, after the leak of an unauthenticated recording in which we hear Timan Erdimi discuss the overthrow of the Chadian junta with the help of the Central African Republic, Algeria and Moscow.
The elimination of Goukouni Weddeye from the management of the talks was the drop that broke the camel's back. Since the Chadian authorities cannot be judge and party, and FACT – the main interlocutor – is not satisfied, the success of the “pre-dialogue” hangs by a thread.
Chad has only known war
It is also the platitude of the interventions, at the opening of the talks this Sunday, which exceeded the participants. Imposing himself in chief, the Chadian Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké started the session by declaring: “Peace requires more courage and maturity than war. True courage does not consist in brandishing a weapon but in having the courage to lay it down”.
Then the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, declared that “the situation in Chad is very serious, and we must succeed in creating an understanding for the benefit of peace”. It was then the turn of the Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Najla Mangoush, to consider that “the peace process will be crucial to improve the stability of the region and help to fight against terrorism in the Sahel”.
Paternalistic statements from these politicians, who irritated. Mahamat Déby came to power through a military coup. Before him, his father led the rebel forces in 1990 to power. It was above all the intervention of the French army in 2008, then in 2019, which kept him at the head of the country. It will therefore be difficult to convince the Chadian rebel groups to work for peace, in a country which has known, until now, only war.