Chad military leader declared election winner

STORY: Chad's interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby has been declared winner of the country's May 6 election.

And that's even as his main challenger said he had won.

Succes Masra has called on the security forces and his supporters to oppose what he described as an attempt to steal the vote.

"Don't let your destiny be stolen. To the military, to the police, to all the members of our country's defense and security forces, you who have seen me work alongside you, with you, for you, I say to you, refuse to obey unjust orders."

Chad's junta has become the first of several coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to stage a return to constitutional rule via the ballot box.

Analysts had widely predicted that Deby, who seized power after rebels killed his long ruling father in April 2021, would win.

However Masra, an opposition leader turned prime minister, had drawn larger than expected crowds on the campaign trail.

Nevertheless, Chad's state election body said late on Thursday (May 9) that Deby had won with over 61% of the vote, citing provisional results.

Masra, it said, had secured around 18.5%.

The disputed results cap a fraught electoral period in which opposition figure Yaya Dillo was shot and killed.

Some opposition parties had called for a boycott over vote-rigging concerns.

With tensions running high, large numbers of security forces were deployed at major intersections in the capital N'Djamena ahead of the results announcement.

What happens next is unclear.