Accused by the authorities of wanting to “set the country ablaze”, the opponent Succès Masra, 40, finally decided to play appeasement by announcing the postponement of his return to Chad, initially scheduled for October 18. To justify this postponement, the leader of the Les Transformateurs party, exiled since the repression of the demonstrations of October 20, 2022 demanding the end of the military transition, explains in a message published Sunday on social networks that he wants to give Community mediation a chance economy of the Central African States and invokes “the risk of clashes” between its supporters and the police.
Voluble, charismatic and with a growing address book abroad, Succès Masra is a thorn in the side of the Chadian power who was able to bring a large part of the political opposition into the transitional government after the establishment of the transition following the death of Idriss Déby in April 2021. Since then, N’Djamena has been blowing hot and cold towards him.
In his Eid speech on June 28, Head of State Mahamat Idriss Déby had invited those “who fled the country to return to the motherland” but, since the young doctor in economics from Sciences Po has announced that he will return on October 18, several signals suggest that he is not welcome after all.
An international arrest warrant
Since Friday, airlines serving N’Djamena must, according to a new circular, transmit flight manifests to the authorities before takeoff. “The timing is clear enough for everyone to understand that I am being targeted,” said Succès Masra, interviewed by Le Monde, especially since, according to several sources, the various station managers would have received verbal orders not to not take the opponent on board.
A few days earlier, on October 5, the Chadian authorities had sent a first sign in the same direction. Immediately after Les Transformateurs gave the itinerary of the march planned to welcome their president, an international arrest warrant issued by the Ministry of Public Security, dated June 8, 2023, conveniently appeared on social networks.
Five charges were then discovered, including “attempt to undermine constitutional order” and “incitement to an insurrectionary uprising”. As proof, the prosecution exhibited the recording of a video broadcast in May on the opponent’s Facebook page and in which he repeats like a mantra: “To arms citizens”. “It’s not a metaphor,” says a senior security official who accuses Mr. Masra, originally from the southern province of Logone Oriental, of having provoked several inter-ethnic massacres which have shaken the south of the country in recent months, without however present evidence.
Since his flight from Chad, a few days after the repression of the demonstrations of October 20, 2022 which left 73 dead according to the authorities and more than 300 according to the organizers, Succès Masra has traveled to the United States, France and other countries without being worried. “Interpol does not take into account warrants of a political nature,” agrees the security source previously cited, which also reveals the existence of a second arrest warrant, this time directly linked to the demonstrations of October 20. In the opponent’s camp, it is claimed that families of victims were encouraged by the government to pursue Mr. Masra in court. “In politics, anything goes,” a government member responds cryptically.
Prevented from competing in the 2021 presidential election
For the Chadian authorities, it is out of the question that the young opponent who, during his lifetime, had not hesitated to challenge the authoritarian power of Marshal Idriss Déby Itno, would organize the commemorations of these demonstrations which they consider to be a attempted insurrection and whose macabre results left an indelible mark on the transition period. “His speech has only become more radical since then, he only seeks to inflame the situation and provoke a new bloodbath,” concludes the officer interviewed.
More moderate, other officials believe that the opponent “did not seize his chance” by refusing the compromise of a discreet return. Uncompromising on this point, he replies that “the head of state, politicians and even rebel leaders are welcomed with great fanfare at the airport, so why not me? »
In neighborhoods of the capital deemed favorable to the opposition, posters announcing his return were torn down. On October 8, at least 72 members of his party who were preparing to welcome him were arrested, according to Human Rights Watch. The human rights organization denounces here “an attempt to limit political dissent before the constitutional referendum”, scheduled for December 17. “They hold meetings, compose songs, print t-shirts and carry out all kinds of subversive activities to find public order,” retorts a source within the power while since August, a series of orders restrict the freedom of assembly and demonstration.
For Succès Masra, there is no doubt, all these measures are a sign that he is scaring the authorities. “The Transformers were banned from operating for more than three years and, in 2020, the age limit of 40 was introduced into the Constitution to prevent me from running for president,” denounces the former economist in head at the African Development Bank. According to its detractors from the Patriotic Salvation Movement, the party founded by former president Idriss Déby Itno, its influence is limited to a few neighborhoods of N’Djamena and relies only on “young unemployed graduates who are legion in the capital” .
“A troublemaker.”
They also repeatedly remind us that the young opponent has never measured his popularity at the polls and that he is playing on religious faith with the support of American evangelical movements. “His ego is his worst enemy,” concedes an observer, “he makes a mistake by allowing himself to be locked into his image of a southern and Christian opponent. » To those who accuse him of wanting to cause a split in the country like in Sudan, Succès Masra responds that he advocates a federalist model inspired by Nigeria.
The question of the form of the State, unitary or federal, is at the heart of the debates surrounding the constitutional referendum scheduled for December 17, but for the moment, discussions mainly revolve around the consequences that its return would cause. “Since his departure, the transition has taken its course peacefully,” judges a minister. He’s a disruptor and the country doesn’t need that right now. »
“Arresting Masra would do him a favor, it would restore his image tarnished by his flight after the events of October 20,” said an observer. Many consider that he cowardly abandoned his troops in the face of danger. Worried about strengthening his popularity and attracting condemnations from human rights organizations and Western chancelleries by arresting him upon his arrival, the authorities in N’Djamena have for the moment chosen to play for time by dissuading him. to return. Asked about his willingness to brave the threat of arrest, Succès Masra dodges the answer: “I am neither suicidal nor a coward. »
