N’DJAMENA | After the death of Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, who ruled his country for 30 years with an iron fist, his son Mahamat Idriss Déby is the new strongman of Chad: he takes the head of a military junta and concentrates all powers.
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Idriss Déby died Monday, according to the Chadian presidency, at the age of 68, from injuries sustained at the front against rebels.
His son, a 37-year-old corps general, dissolved the National Assembly and the government. “He occupies the functions of President of the Republic, Head of State and Supreme Head of the Armies”, according to the transitional charter published on Wednesday.
“He appoints and dismisses the members of the transitional government” and appoints “the members of the National Transitional Council”, in charge of the legislative function.
A Transitional Military Council (CMT) was set up, made up of 15 generals known to be in the circle of the most loyal of the late head of state. This CMT swore that new institutions would emerge after “free and democratic” elections in a year and a half.
The rebels, who have been leading an offensive from Libya against the Chadian regime for ten days, have promised to march on N’Djamena and “categorically” rejected this military advice.
“We intend to continue the offensive,” said Kingabé Ogouzeimi de Tapol, spokesperson for the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT) on Tuesday.
The United States on Wednesday called for a “peaceful and democratic transition” to civilian government in Chad, without going so far as to condemn the seizure of power by the military junta.
With the death of Idriss Déby Itno, the Westerners, Paris in the lead, are losing their strongest ally against the jihadists in a troubled Sahelian region, where the former French colony has hitherto been an island of relative stability.
Since coming to power by force in 1990, with the help of Paris, Idriss Déby had always been able to count on his French ally who installed in N’Djamena the headquarters of his anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, Barkhane. France’s position on the military transition is therefore particularly scrutinized.
Idriss Déby Itno’s national funeral will take place on Friday in N’Djamena, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron. Ten other heads of state are also expected, including several from Sahelian countries, such as Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso. The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell has also announced his presence.
“The announced transition must be limited, take place in a peaceful manner, with respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and allow the organization of new inclusive elections,” Borrell warned in a statement.
“The potentially explosive consequences of the death of President Idriss Déby cannot be underestimated, both for the future of Chad and for that of the region,” the NGO Human Rights Watch noted on Wednesday. “Chad’s regional and international partners should closely monitor the situation and use their influence to prevent abuses against civilians,” continues the NGO.
Especially since the transition period can be extended once, according to the new charter.
“Rebellion”
For many opponents who have always been repressed by Idriss Déby’s regime, this seizure of power is nothing more than a “coup”.
About thirty Chadian opposition parties denounced Wednesday “an institutional coup”, and called “for the establishment of a transition led by civilians (…) through an inclusive dialogue”. The opposition also called for “not to obey the illegal, illegitimate and irregular decisions taken by the CMT, in particular the transitional charter and the curfew”.
Mahamat Idriss Déby “is much too young and is not particularly liked by other officers”, told AFP Roland Marchal, researcher at the International Research Center (Ceri) of Sciences Po Paris.
The all-powerful Directorate General of Security Services for State Institutions (DGSSIE), until then headed by Mahamat Idriss Déby, “is in danger of becoming divided. They will solve their problems, as they have done in the past, by physical elimination attempts, with the implication of armed violence in the capital, ”he continues.
Threats therefore weigh from all sides on the new strong man of the regime. A Zaghawa, like his father. A career soldier, like his father. Young, of course. But Idriss Déby himself came to power at the age of 38, at the head of a rebellion.
Among its first measures: a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. was introduced Tuesday and land and air borders closed. Since Wednesday, the borders are open again, and the curfew has been shortened from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
Death in action
The army assures us that Idriss Déby died in action, while he was leading operations in the North, more than 300 km from N’Djamena, against the FACT rebel coalition.
In the Tibesti massif, on the border with Libya, but also in the northeast which borders Sudan, Chadian rebels regularly confront the army, from their rear bases in these countries.
In February 2019, who came from Libya to try to overthrow the regime, they were stopped by bombardments of French fighter planes at the request of N’Djamena.