Further to a news report broadcast by RFI on May 20, 2024 on the silence of the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on the subject of the Chadian elections, the following must be clearly underlined:
The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC), the only Continental body responsible for peace and security issues, formally prohibited the military from standing in the elections as soon as the Military Council was installed in Chad.
Since then, the PSC has reiterated this position in all its communiqués, the most recent of which, issued on May 11 2023, extended the ban to all transitional authorities and expressly stated that "members of the transitional authorities must not take part in the planned elections, in accordance with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance". Aware of this provision, the transitional authorities did not wish the AU to observe these elections.
Given these established facts, it is impossible for the Chairper- son of the Commission to pronounce on the results of such elections, unless he were to violate the decisions of the PSC, which he is obliged to respect.
It is therefore up to the Peace and Security Council to decide on the fate of its decisions.
Ebba Kalondo, Spokesperson to the Chairperson of the
Commission
