Chad - 2021 Elections
The country ranks 187th out of 189 in the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Idriss Deby Itno, the frontrunner in elections in Chad, had carved out a reputation as the West's stalwart ally in the Sahel, despite accusations of authoritarianism and failure to ease poverty.
Deby, 68, is on course for a sixth term in office, having already notched up 30 years in office, making him one of the longest-serving leaders in the world. His long survival in the region's brutal politics has made him a reliable figure in the French-led campaign against jihadist insurgents in the Sahel.
In August 2020, the National Assembly named him field marshal, the first in Chad's history, after he led an offensive against jihadists who had killed nearly 100 troops at a base in the west of the country. Dressed in a dark-blue silk cape embroidered with oak leaves, and clutching a baton, Deby dedicated the tribute to "all my brothers in arms."
Deby is a herder's son from the Zaghawa ethnic group who took the classic path to power through the army, and relishes the military culture. As a young man, Deby enrolled at the officers' academy in the capital N'Djamena before heading to France, where he trained as a pilot. He returned in 1979 to a country in the grip of feuding warlords.
Deby hitched his star to Hissene Habre and was rewarded with the post of army chief after Habre came to power in 1982, ousting Goukouni Weddeye. In the following years, Deby distinguished himself fighting Libyan-backed rebels over mountainous territory in the north of the country. But in 1989, he fell out with his increasingly paranoid boss, who accused him of plotting a coup.
Deby fled to Sudan, where he assembled an armed rebel group, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, which rolled into Ndjamena unopposed in December 1990. In 1996, six years after he seized power and ushered in democracy, Deby was elected head of state in Chad's first multi-party vote. He won again in succeeding elections. The main opposition withdrew its participation in 2006 and 2011, irked by a change to the constitution enabling the former soldier to renew his term, and the elections in 2015 were marked by accusations of fraud.
Deby is solidly backed by former colonial power France, which in 2008 and in 2019 used military force to help defeat rebels who tried to oust him. "We safeguarded an absolutely major ally in the struggle against terrorism in the Sahel," French Defence Minister Florence Parly told parliament in 2019. Deby supported French intervention in northern Mali in 2013 to repel jihadists, and the following year stepped in to end chaos in the Central African Republic.
In 2015, Deby launched a regional offensive in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger against Nigeria-based Boko Haram jihadists, dubbing the Islamic State affiliate "a horde of crazies and drug addicts". One of Deby's political rivals, Saleh Kebzabo, has protested against France's backing and urged the world to recognise the regime's "dictatorial nature."
Deby's power base, the army, comprises mainly troops from the president's Zaghawa ethnic group and is commanded by loyalists. It is considered one of the best in Sahel. According to the International Crisis Group think tank, defence spending accounts for between 30 and 40 percent of the annual budget.
In 2018, Deby scrapped the position of prime minister to assume full executive authority. "Everything is centralised around the presidency -- he uses all the weapons of absolute power while bullying society," said Roland Marchal at the Centre of International Research at the Sciences Po school in Paris.
"When he gets angry, he's a bit scary," a trade unionist said, referring to Deby's notorious mood switches, although a close aide said "he has great listening ability and analytical skills." Deby has been accused of iron-fisted rule. Banned opposition demonstrations, arbitrary arrests and severed access to social networks raise regular objections from human rights groups. Another common complaint is that Deby has named relatives and cronies to key positions, and failed to address the poverty that afflicts many of Chad's 13 million people despite oil wealth.
President Idriss Deby took a strong early lead and appeared poised to extend his 30-year rule, partial provisional results of the April 11 presidential election showed, as the United States and the United Kingdom warned of possible violence in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena. The Independent National Election Commission (CENI) said on 17 April 2021 that Deby won a majority in all but one of the 51 departments announced so far, and secured a plurality in the other. Results from 61 departments had yet to be announced.
Chad's new military rulers named Albert Pahimi Padacke as prime minister of a transitional government on 26 April 2026 a week after President Idriss Deby's battlefield death - an appointment quickly dismissed by an opposition leader. A military council seized power after Deby was killed as he visited troops fighting rebels on April 19. Opposition politicians have called the military takeover a coup, and one said on Monday the army had no right to pick a premier. The transition and the wrangling around it is being closely watched in a country that is a key power in central Africa and a longtime Western ally against Islamist militants across the Sahel. The military council headed by Deby's son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, has said it will oversee an 18-month transition to elections. But it is coming under international pressure to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible. The African Union has expressed "grave concern" about the military takeover, while France and regional powers are pushing for a civilian-military solution. Padacke served as prime minister from 2016 to 2018, and was seen as one of Deby's allies, despite running against him several times. He came second with 10.3% of the vote in an April 11 election.
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