Chad Reconciliation Process: The Path Of Transitional Council

C had’s Transitional Military Government (TMC) is at work. Several months after replacing his father who was brutally killed on April 20, 2021, Mahamat Idriss Deby has made National Reconciliation a major item on his agenda. Despite the slippery political terrain and insecurity, the head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) is focused on building a solid, peaceful and democratic country. After accepting the holding of a pre-National Reconciliation Dialogue in Doha (Qatar), attended by more than 1,400 delegates from the military, civil society, opposition parties, trade unions and rebel groups, he personally facilitated the organization of the National Dialogue in N’Djamena. Despite the refusal of some civil society groups and military movements like; Les Transformateurs, Wakit Tama and the Front for Change and Concord (FACT) to attend, the three week National Reconciliation Dialogue rounded off on October 1, 2022 with a firm decision by all participants to extend the transitional period for a maximum of 24 months with Mahamat Deby to stay as interim Head of State, the drafting and putting in place of a new constitution through a referendum and the authorization of each and every one to run for the next presidential election in the country. Since the holding of the National Reconciliation Dialogue, the head of the TMC has not only extended a hand of fellowship to those who did not attend or endorsed the final communique, but has signed a series of decrees aimed at appeasing the political climate in the country. Apart from pardoning political prisoners, the President has released a great number of persons who have tried to destabilize the country through street protests or attempted coups. He has also released from Klessoum prison near the capital, N'Djamena twenty-two inmates who were condemned for treason, 300 rebels and political dissidents as well as detainees who remained for a long time in prison without trial or without having appeared before a judge. Apart from the release of offenders, the President during the recent celebration of Eid, called ...