Discord In Doha, Talks Resume On Tuesday

DOHA, QATAR–The so-called “Pre-Dialogue” in Doha has gotten off to a roiling start with major parties threatening to withdraw and a three day pause in negotiations.

Journalists across Chad protested their exclusion from the “Pre-Dialogue” on Saturday March 19th, with radio stations off the air, online reporting suspended, and otherwise going on strike for the day. But excluding journalists is only one of the symptoms of the government’s efforts to shroud the Doha talks in secrecy. The Chadian Government recently announced restrictions on some opposition groups regarding transparency of the closed door meetings, after negotiation files were leaked on social networks.

There is cause for concern when the information that reaches us indicates the desire for conscious purchases. I dare not put everyone in the same bag. Among the rebels, there are people who are in some kind of business. He takes the money, he buys a house and he goes back to rebelling.

Succes Masra, President of Chadian opposition party “Les Transformateurs”

But the talks themselves have felt the effects, negotiations recently resumed after a three day pause for considerations. The pause came at the behest one of Chad’s most influential rebel groups, Le Front pour l’Alternance et la Concorde au Tchad, who claimed that the negotiations were not being carried out in a “logical” way. The Organizer/Mediator of the dialogue, Qatar, also had objections to raise, saying there were too many participants–a caveat they had expressed before–and requested that the 52 rebel groups decide on 10 representatives to carry out negotiations, but gave them only 72 hours to make the decision.

These, and other signs of chaos have prompted critics to speak up about the discord in Doha, blaming the Chadian government and other organizers for not creating a proper agenda.

“Before going to dialogue, you need an agenda… He who says dialogue says two camps. We have the impression that they are leaving without any agenda and the pre-dialogue in Doha is proof of this. It is a biological family that presents itself on behalf of the people. It is unacceptable that it becomes a family affair”

Succes Masra, President of Chadian opposition party “Les Transformateurs”