5 ms·

The subtitle might give more context: > Déby had ruled for 30 years and won a sixth term in elections last week

by throwaways885 5y ago

kamarg 5y ago
Are these elections or "elections"? I don't know anything about Chad.
- pp19dd 5y ago
  "elections" - this is an outdated graphic (hasn't been updated since 2015) but scroll down to see the length of terms graph: https://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/ https://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/ Chad is near top of the list.
- lucozade 5y ago
  The Democracy Index has Chad as the 163rd most democratic country. Out of 167. So, I'm guessing "elections" is probably closer to the true state of affairs.
versale 5y ago
"He was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders and a close ally of western powers..." So, it depends on how you view "western powers", I guess.
- Robotbeat 5y ago
  Yeah, well a guy who gained power through military force is being challenged by rebel fighters... live by the sword, die by the sword. What matters is what replaces him, not whether western forces like him. I don’t understand folks who are like “the west is bad, therefore anyone the west supports is bad and their passing is good.”
  - nickkell 5y ago
    The great dictator, and an even better golfer
- jcranmer 5y ago
  You can largely replace "western powers" with "France" here. France is pretty well-known for being extremely cozy with the dictators of its former colonies, so long as they represent stability rather than insurgency and let France have some measure of influence in the country. France is pretty unabashedly neocolonial in its treatment of Francophone Africa.
  - versale 5y ago
    I'd like to add that it is France who controls Chad's currency policy with CFA francs [1]. Some people say it's a modern mean for wealth extraction from Africa. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc

5 ms·

The subtitle might give more context: > Déby had ruled for 30 years and won a sixth term in elections last week

by throwaways885 5y ago

The subtitle might give more context: > Déby had ruled for 30 years and won a sixth term in elections last week

kamarg 5y ago
Are these elections or "elections"? I don't know anything about Chad.
- pp19dd 5y ago
  "elections" - this is an outdated graphic (hasn't been updated since 2015) but scroll down to see the length of terms graph: https://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/ https://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/ Chad is near top of the list.
- lucozade 5y ago
  The Democracy Index has Chad as the 163rd most democratic country. Out of 167. So, I'm guessing "elections" is probably closer to the true state of affairs.
versale 5y ago
"He was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders and a close ally of western powers..." So, it depends on how you view "western powers", I guess.
- Robotbeat 5y ago
  Yeah, well a guy who gained power through military force is being challenged by rebel fighters... live by the sword, die by the sword. What matters is what replaces him, not whether western forces like him. I don’t understand folks who are like “the west is bad, therefore anyone the west supports is bad and their passing is good.”
  - nickkell 5y ago
    The great dictator, and an even better golfer
- jcranmer 5y ago
  You can largely replace "western powers" with "France" here. France is pretty well-known for being extremely cozy with the dictators of its former colonies, so long as they represent stability rather than insurgency and let France have some measure of influence in the country. France is pretty unabashedly neocolonial in its treatment of Francophone Africa.
  - versale 5y ago
    I'd like to add that it is France who controls Chad's currency policy with CFA francs [1]. Some people say it's a modern mean for wealth extraction from Africa. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc