More than 1,400 delegates from the military, civil society, opposition parties, trade unions and rebel groups gathered in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, on Saturday for the long-awaited national dialogue” that is expected to last three weeks.

The talks are the initiative of army general Mahamat Idriss Deby.

Head of the military government Deby who had inaugurated a statue symbolising national unity at the January 15 palace in the capital before reviewing an honour guard, described the forum as a “decisive moment in history of the country.

Recall Deby took power in April 2021 at the age of just 37 after his father, who ruled for 30 years, was killed during a military operation against rebels.

Nathaniel Powell is the Africa Analyst at Oxford Analytics.