Chad Ruling Party Wins Parliament Majority, Provisional Results Show

Chads ruling party won two-thirds of the seats in the legislative election which was boycotted by many in the opposition last month, provisional results showed on Sunday, reinforcing President Mahamat Idriss Debys hold on power.

Results of the December 29 election seal the oil-producing Central African nations transition to constitutional rule more than three years after Deby seized control following the sudden death of his father and long-standing predecessor Idriss Deby Itno.

Debys party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, secured 124 of the 188 seats at the National Assembly, the national electoral body said. The participation rate was put at 51.56.

The vote, which also included municipal and regional elections, was Chads first in more than a decade.

But opposition leader Succes Masras Transformateurs party and several others boycotted the election, saying the vote was skewed and lacked transparency. The government has denied this.