Opposition urged to boycott polls

Opposition leader Abderamane Djasnabaille has called for a boycott of next year’s parliamentary elections to deny credibility to President Idriss Deby’s government, PANA reported Djasnabaille as saying on Wednesday at a news conference in the capital, N’djamena. Djasnabailee, who heads an umbrella of some 30 opposition parties, said that massive public pressure was needed to force Deby into accepting a round-table debate on the country’s political problems, PANA reported. Chadian opposition groups alleged that the 20 May presidential polls were fraudulent after the electoral commission declared Deby winner with 67 percent of the vote. Djasnabaille warned that the opposition should not expect victory in the 2002 elections saying that the Deby would use the civil service, army, the electoral commission and other bodies to ensure his victory, PANA reported.