After repeated postponements a legislative election was finally held in Chad on February 13th. The poll was the cornerstone of the August 2007 political accord, which was supposed to bring about political reconciliation, and as such received significant financial and logistical assistance from the EU. Members of the opposition complained about the poll's organisation up to the final stages, calling for yet another postponement, although in the event there was no repeat of the widespread opposition boycott seen in the last election, in 2006. There were reports of administrative shortcomings hampering the vote in several constituencies, and the preliminary estimate of turnout was a fairly disappointing 40%. However, voting was generally calm, which is no small achievement in a country ravaged by recent civil conflict and with little democratic tradition. Moreover, independent election observers, both local and foreign, declared themselves broadly satisfied with the poll's conduct.

The results had not been published at the time of writing, but it seems likely that the opposition will not make a significant dent in the crushing parliamentary majority of the ruling Mouvement patriotique du salut (MPS), which held 112 of 155 seats in the outgoing National Assembly, nearly three-quarters of the total. (The new legislature will be expanded to 188 seats.) There are around 100 tiny opposition parties-often comprising just a handful of members and representing narrow clan interests-vying for seats. However, the biggest opposition parties are grouped in a coalition, Coordination des partis politiques pour la défense de la constitution (CPDC), which was one of the signatories of the 2007 deal. The CPDC is set to contest the validity of the ballot, claiming that the number of irregularities in the lead-up to voting was greater than in previous polls. Two days after the elections the opposition coalition announced that it would make formal complaints about their conduct, which include allegations of bribery, multiple voting and the tampering with ballot boxes to favour the ruling party. Moreover, in the run-up to the ballot there were widespread reports of state resources being commandeered to help the ruling party's campaign. Whatever the truth of the CPDC's claims, the coalition must shoulder a large part of the blame for its expected poor performance, as it failed to mount an effective challenge to the MPS.