Chadian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Succes Masra’s party on Wednesday condemned violence and threats against him and his supporters, and alleged electoral fraud this week.
Masra, 40, a former opposition figure, is the main election rival of transitional president and junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.
The election on Monday aimed to end three years of military rule but opponents of the junta chief called for a boycott, dismissing it as fixed.
Masra had ramped up considerable support on the stump in recent weeks and could force a second round of voting, scheduled for June 22.
Masra’s party The Transformers said on Facebook that the 40-year-old economist was under “surveillance” and faces “threats to his safety.”
The party and the political Justice and Equality Coalition which supports it also denounced “threats and serious violence” targeting their supporters as well as arbitrary arrests since Monday’s vote.
The party complained that access to voting stations in order to observe the count had been denied.
And it said there had been “unimaginable violations, including shooting with live ammunition in order to monopolise ballots and reports of proceedings.”
The Transformers urged people to “remain vigilant and mobilized to defend their will expressed at the ballot box.
