Federation, Action for the Republic

Federation, Action for the Republic (French: Fédération, action pour la république, FAR/Parti Fédération) is a political party in Chad. It is considered a radical opposition party and is led by Ngarlejy Yorongar. The FAR supports federalism.[1]

In the 1997 parliamentary election, the FAR won one seat in the National Assembly.[1][2][3] Yorongar was the only FAR candidate to win a seat.[3]

Its candidate for the 20 May 2001 presidential election, Yorongar, has been a prominent critic of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. According to official results, he won 396,864 votes or 6.35%.[4] Six opposition candidates were detained on May 30 after contesting the results. Yorongar was tortured, along with Abderhamane Djesnebaye, including by being beaten with iron bars.[5]

In the parliamentary election held on 21 April 2002, the party won 10 out of 155 seats.[6][7]

The FAR was the only major opposition party to not sign an agreement on August 13, 2007 that provided for improved electoral organization ahead of the next parliamentary election, now planned for 2009. Yorongar criticized the agreement as inadequate and said that there should instead be a dialogue involving the entire political scene, including rebels, the exiled opposition, and civil society, and that a credible election could not be conducted while a rebellion was taking place in part of the country.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 118.
  2. ^ IPU-PARLINE page on 2002 parliamentary election.
  3. ^ a b "RAPPORT DE LA MISSION D’OBSERVATION DU DEUXIEME TOURDES ELECTIONS LEGISLATIVES DU 23 FEVRIER 1997", democratie.francophonie.org (French).
  4. ^ Elections in Chad, African Elections Database.
  5. ^ "Chad: Violent crackdown on peaceful protesters", Amnesty International, June 12, 2001.
  6. ^ IPU-PARLINE page on 2002 parliamentary election.
  7. ^ List of members of the Federation Parliamentary Group, May 2002.
  8. ^ "Tchad: l'opposant Yorongar refuse de perdre du temps à signer un accord vain", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), August 14, 2007 (French).