In Chad, after the general amnesty for the rebels, the military leader Mahamat Déby multiplies the gestures towards the opposition. Are we heading towards an overhaul of Chadian politics and diplomacy?
During the visit of the head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) of Chad, Mahamat Déby, to Egypt in early January, the latter would have visited Tom Erdimi in prison. While he was believed to have been in exile in the United States for years, two years after having disappeared from the radar, the Chadian opponent Tom Erdimi was finally detained in Cairo.
A very significant visit, while Mahamat Déby is advancing by leaps and bounds in his talks with Chadian rebels and opponents. Déby's gesture will certainly have an influence on the Doha dialogue, scheduled in Qatar in the coming weeks. Guest of honor: Timan Erdimi, twin brother of Tom, and president of the Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) and the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR). Currently in exile in Qatar, Timan Erdimi will be the last rebel leader to join the national dialogue on the transition.
At the same time, Mahamat Déby also decided to appoint four leaders of the civil opposition movement Wakit Tama to the government. They are, in all likelihood, Mahamat Ahmat Lazina, who will return to his post as Minister of the Environment, the influential journalist François Djékombé, the spokesperson for the CTPD Jean-Michel Djerané and the activist Alain Kemba Didah.
Is Mahamat Déby trying to free himself from France?
A love letter from Mahamat Déby for the opposition, therefore. And not the least, because following the general amnesty last November, the young putschist and son of the former president found himself abandoned by French and Togolese diplomats. The latter would not have appreciated that he did not use mediators for the talks.
Above all, by bringing together around the same table Timan Erdimi, Mahamat Nouri, the leaders of Wakit Tama and the military, Mahamat Déby succeeded in what his father had failed to do in thirty years. The late President of Chad had always maneuvered around French interests, or even those of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia – since the start of the Arab diplomatic crisis.
However, the young Déby is not bound by the diplomatic tradition of his father. And despite the mixed support given by Emmanuel Macron to the succession of Mahamat Déby to his father, the discord between N'Djamena and Paris was quick to start again. At the center of Franco-Chadian relations, the duration of the transition.
While Mahamat Déby has secured a stranglehold he would like to see continue, France certainly has its own plans for Chad. And Mahamat Déby seems to be moving further and further away from Emmanuel Macron.
Militarily, Chad had reassigned its Nigerien contingent to northern Chad along the Libyan border. Economically, Chad has many trade agreements with Turkey, France's main rival. Finally, diplomatically, Mahamat Déby will hold his pre-talks in Doha, before organizing his round table in N'Djamena, and not in Paris as the Quai d'Orsay had suggested in October.
Mahamat Déby clearly stated that if France did not invest funds in favor of the transition, the latter would last as long as the CMT deemed necessary. Is France's privileged partner status in Chad coming to an end?