President Idriss Déby Itno has been winning presidential
elections since December 1990 and the 25 April poll is likely to prove
no exception. With the opposition boycott, turnout was expected to
provide the only question mark: early results suggested less than 50%
of the electorate had voted. Before the boycott, the only other serious
candidates were Southern: Northern opposition leader Ibni Oumar
Mahamet Saleh was assassinated in February 2008 (AC Vol 50 No 9).
Oppositionists called the boycott because of fraud in February’s
general elections, which saw another huge victory for the presidential
party, the Mouvement populaire du salut, and its allies.
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