In 2002, Chad was a landlocked country located in Central Africa with a population of around 8 million people. According to computerannals, it was led by President Idriss Deby and the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement. The economy was largely based on agriculture, with subsistence farming being the main source of income for most families. In addition to agriculture, the country had begun to diversify its economy in recent years and had experienced some growth in the oil sector. Education was highly valued in Chad and primary school enrollment had increased significantly since independence in 1960. Healthcare services were provided by both public and private institutions, though access to healthcare remained limited due to lack of infrastructure and resources. Despite its progress since independence, poverty remained a major issue for many Chadian with over 40 percent living below the poverty line. Corruption and mismanagement were also an issue as the government struggled to combat these issues with limited resources. Additionally, Chad faced security threats from rebel groups operating within its borders and from neighboring countries such as Sudan and Libya.
Yearbook 2002
Chad. In January, a peace deal was concluded after three years of civil war between the Chadian government and the rebel group Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT), which had its bases at the Libyan border. MDJT was led by former Defense Minister Youssouf Togoimi.
Under the agreement, ceasefire would be followed by the release of prisoners and the rebel soldiers would be integrated into the government army. MDJT’s leaders were also promised participation in the government. Libya, which is an important donor to Chad, acted as mediator in the peace talks and said it was a guarantor of keeping the peace agreement.
According to Countryaah website, national day of Chad is every August 11. The political opposition demanded that the general election scheduled for April be held later. It was felt that the election was not sufficiently prepared to give all citizens a chance to vote. However, the claim was rejected by the government and the election was carried out as planned.
President Idriss Déby’s own party and his support parties strengthened as expected. They received almost four-fifths of the mandate, as opposing candidates were missing in many constituencies and two important opposition parties boycotted the election. The turnout was very low and varied between 20 and 40% in different parts of the country.
On election day, opposition leader Mahamat Gueti was killed when his car exploded in the north of the country. Gueti led the African Democratic Party.
The process that would give the rebel movement the MDJT part in government power and in the government army stopped, reportedly due to disagreement among the rebels. In May, battles broke out in the north for the first time after the peace agreement. The rebels claimed to have killed about 60 army soldiers.
History
From independence, obtained on 11 August 1960, until the coup d’etat of 1975, the political and economic life of Chad was dominated by President François Tombalbaye, whose power was instrumental in the Progressive Party of Chad (PPT), which became single party in January 1962 after the dissolution of all other political formations; a new constitution established (April 14, 1962) a presidential regime. A profound contrast increasingly opposed the Negro populations, Christian or animist, of the southern areas – from which, in particular the Sara, the political and bureaucratic elite – and the Arab-Muslim ones of the north of the country, nomads and pastoralists, intolerant of each central authority.
The tension increased after the withdrawal from the northern regions of the French forces – which however maintained the administration of the Saharan districts of Borku, Ennedi and Tibesti until 1965 – and in the course of 1963 the arrest of numerous politicians and the establishment of a special criminal court caused serious unrest. From 1965 an open and bloody rebellion broke out in some areas of the country, which also caused a crisis in relations with the Sudan, accused of helping the rebels, largely coordinated by the Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT), founded in 1966 to defend the Arab-Muslim identity of the north. The intervention of French troops against the rebels, requested in 1968 by Tombalbaye – whose power had been further strengthened in 1967 by the decisions of the VII Congress of the PPT and for the elimination of the former minister S. Selingar, accused of conspiracy – was not conclusive; the guerrillas intensified between 1969 and 1970 in the northern and southern regions of Chad and only in 1971 Tombalbaye – confirmed by the elections of June 1969 as president for another seven years – succeeded, with administrative and economic measures and by granting of amnesties and political agreements, to reconcile the rebels of the eastern and southern areas. However, especially in Tibesti, the activity of FROLINAT continued, which in August 1971 seems to have attempted a coup d’état, with the help of Libya (where the Front received open support).
The internal situation therefore continues to be disturbed: new accusations and arrests during 1973, while the PPT in an extraordinary congress is transformed into the Mouvement National pour la Révolution Culturelle et Sociale (MNRCS), to promote, among other things, a more genuine national identity, according to the example of Zaire, with which Chad initiates closer relations: first of all the onomastics is changed (thus the president from François becomes N’Garta) and the toponymy (the capital, for example, is calls since then N’Djamena); an opposition party – the Mouvement Démocratique Révolutionnaire Tchadien (MDRT) – is organized in Paris, but its leader, former minister O. Bono, is assassinated shortly thereafter. In the same 1973 (when Chad withdraws from OCAM) relations with France enter into crisis again; full reconciliation takes place in November 1974, with Tombalbaye’s visit to Paris, and a new military assistance agreement is signed in March 1975. In April, however, President Tombalbaye is assassinated and power assumed by a Supreme Military Council, with a chief the gen. Félix Malloum (on the first anniversary he escaped a bloody attack); the new regime, which promises to restore constitutional freedoms, first of all the religious freedoms hindered in recent times, is fighting corruption and degenerate expressions of tribal loyalty.
