Twenty-three candidates have submitted their applications to contest Chad’s presidential election scheduled for April 10, 2016, the national electoral board of Chad said.
Candidates had to file their bids between February 10 to 29. If no outright winner emerges from the first round, there will be a runoff vote on May 9.
According to Radio France International (RFI), Chadian opposition leader Ngarledji Yorongar was the last to submit his documents on Monday just hours before the deadline.
Other key opposition figures who also filed bids for the top job in the oil-rich central African nation include Saleh Kebzabo, president of the National Union for Democracy and Renewal party; Djimrangar Dadnadji, a former ally of the current president Idriss Deby Itno; and Mahamat Ahmat Alhabo, the candidate of the Party for Liberties and Democracy.
Four women had also filed documents, but two were invalidated by the Constitutional Council; it has five days to respond to each of the candidates, RFI reported.
Term limits
The former Foreign Affairs Minister of Chad, Tidjani Thiam, who had earlier announced he would contest the election as an independent candidate, withdrew his candidacy.
According to Deutsche Well radio, he gave the excuse for his withdrawal on protest movements that have rocked the country for two weeks, saying the situation was not likely to ensure "serenity " of the ballot.
After announcing his intension to seek another mandate, current Chadian head of state, President Deby, who has been in power since 1990, submitted his application ten days before the deadline.
As the candidate of the governing Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), he has promised to reintroduce constitutional term limits if he wins a fifth term.
Chad, which has a population of 11.6 million, was ranked 185th out of 188 countries in the UN’s 2015 Human Development Index, which measures living standards around the world.
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