Subject: chad presidential election pregnant<br/>
Date: Dec 03, 2000 @ 21:22<br/>
Author: michael donner (michael donner &lt;m@...&gt;)<br/>
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<br/><br/>
<div id="ygrps-yiv-1014836434">president of this developing country is elected by direct popular vote to<br/>
serve 5 year terms<br/>
<br/>
if no candidate receives at least half the total vote<br/>
the 2 leading candidates must stand for a second round of voting<br/>
<br/>
last presidential elections were in 1996 & were first democratic ones ever<br/>
<br/>
next will be held 6 months from now<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
however<br/>
present president is former renegade lieutenant general idriss deby<br/>
who actually came to power in 1990<br/>
  following a tri country military coup launched from sudan & libya<br/>
& later suspended & rewrote the constitution<br/>
& was only afterwards duly elected<br/>
albeit in a runoff<br/>
<br/>
also<br/>
despite movement toward democratic reform<br/>
actual power remains firmly in the hands of a northern ethnic oligarchy<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
still<br/>
international observers have confirmed the elections were free & fair & open<br/>
& have praised the election commission for its remarkable effort in<br/>
planning the elections<br/>
& have affirmed that the election process was calm & disciplined<br/>
allowing candidates to freely express themselves<br/>
<br/>
except in a few rare cases the observers saw no pressure on voters<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
but<br/>
saving the best for last<br/>
they conceded it was sometimes difficult to verify the identity & quality<br/>
of the voters among the nomadic peoples of the country<br/>
<br/>
m</div>