Chad’s military junta has given the go-ahead for a march by a top opposition party after changing the proposed route, according to a decree by the public security ministry on Wednesday.
The Transformers, along with civil society groups, will take to the streets on Thursday to protest the junta’s seizure of power upon the death in April of president Idriss Deby Itno.
The junta is led by the late president’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby, who has consolidated nearly all powers around himself and 14 generals who were close to his father.
The Transformers, founded in 2018 by a young campaigner named Succes Masra, is calling for a national conference to lead the poor Sahel country back to an inclusive, democratic government.
The generals, although they have promised “free and transparent” elections after an 18-month “transition” that could be extended, have also dissolved parliament and repealed the constitution.
Opposition marches that went ahead on April 27 despite an official ban turned violent in the capital N’Djamena and in the south of the former French colony.
While the authorities said six people had died, a local NGO put the death toll at nine.
More than 600 people were arrested.
The junta has authorised several demonstrations in support of the military regime but did not approve an opposition march until July 12.
When it changed the route, the organisers cancelled the march.
