US embassy cable - 05NDJAMENA1133

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 001133 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, INR, DRL, LONDON AND PARIS FOR 
AFRICAWATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, CD, Human RIghts, Political Stability 
SUBJECT: LIFTING TERM LIMITS: CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL 
CONFIRMS UNLIMITED PRESIDENTIAL MANDATES 
 
REF: A. NDJAMENA 902 
     B. NDJAMENA 932 
     C. NDJAMENA 986 
 
 1.  (SBU) Summary:  On July 7, Chad's Constitutional Council 
nullified the public referendum results of over 3,007 voting 
precincts, but confirmed the overall vote in favor of 
removing presidential term limits.  The rejection of the 
votes in one-third of the districts and the overseas votes 
puts the final participation rate at 57.8 percent with 65 
percent voting in favor of amending the Constitution.  In 
announcing its decision to cancel one quarter of the votes, 
the Constitutional Council cited a number of irregularities, 
but still affirmed the "yes" vote in favor of the revisions. 
The opposition continues to question the credibility of the 
referendum given these irregularities and number of votes 
disqualified.  The next step is for President Deby to 
promulgate by decree the Constitutional amendments.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (U) Chad's Constitutional Council announced the final, 
official results of the public referendum held on June 6. 
David Houdeingar, the Council's President, stated that the 
voter turn-out was 57.8 percent with 65 percent voting in 
favor of amending the Constitution to remove presidential 
term limits.  On June 21, the National Independent Electoral 
Commission CENI's provisional results were released putting 
the voter turn-out as 71 percent and 77.8 percent of the 
voters voted in favor of the referendum. 
 
3.  (U) In response to complaints filed by the public, the 
Constitutional Council nullified votes in 3,007 districts 
after a variety of irregularities were reported.  These 
include: non-respect for the prescribed voting hours, 
discrepancies between the votes cast and counted, 
discrepancies between the number of registered voters and 
votes cast, the lack of a final tally sheet in some areas, 
lack of required signatures, and excessive votes by nomadic 
herders.  In addition, the Constitutional Council canceled 
out all of the votes cast overseas because the voter register 
was not publicly displayed thirty days in advance of the 
election. 
 
4.  (SBU) Many opposition members believe that the 
Constitutional Council recognized some of the technical 
problems with the referendum and the likely inflation of the 
provisional results.  However, they claim that, because the 
Council threw out the results of one-third of the polling 
stations, the results of the entire exercise should be 
canceled as well.  The rejected votes amounted to one-fourth 
of the votes cast.  The opposition parties remain fragmented 
and somewhat resigned to the fact that presidential term 
limits have been removed.  In meetings with opposition 
leaders, it is clear that they are unsure of their next steps. 
 
5.  (SBU) Comment: As expected, the Constitutional Court, 
stacked with presidential loyalists, reaffirmed the vote in 
favor of the changes to the Constitution.  However, it is the 
first governmental body that acknowledged the extent of the 
irregularities.  There is still another "technical step" to 
come: the promulgation of the Constitutional revisions by 
President Deby through a decree. 
 
 
WALL 
 
 
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