Chad’s main opposition candidate Saleh Kebzabo has announced his exit from the presidential election set for 11 April.
The announcement by Mr. Kebzabo follows the killing of at least two people as security forces tried to arrest another opposition leader, Yaya Dillo, at his home in the capital, N’Djamena.
“The climate of insecurity… will definitely overshadow the electoral campaign of candidates confronting (Déby’s) Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS),” he said on Twitter.
President Idriss Deby, who has been in power since 1990, pushed through a new constitution in 2018 that reinstated term limits but could let him stay in power until 2033.
Déby powered through a military coup in 1990 is serving his fifth term. He is a strong ally of the West in regional counter-terrorism operations.
