Chad's junta-appointed prime minister on Sunday, March 10, said he would contest the May 6 presidential elections, eight days after incumbent Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno announced his candidacy.
Former opposition leader Succès Masra returned from exile and signed a reconciliation deal with Déby Itno before becoming premier this year. The opposition says his candidacy is a ploy to give an appearance of pluralism in a vote the junta chief is certain to win with his main rivals dead or in exile.
Masra, 40, unveiled his election bid at a campaign meeting attended by hundreds of activists from his Transformers party, saying he wanted to "heal hearts and unite the people." Responding to critics who disapproved of his decision to ally with the junta, Masra defended "an agreement of the brave" that meant "our quest for justice is never transformed into a quest for revenge."