General Mohamed Idriss Deby, leader of the Transitional Military Council in Chad, sends a message at the presidential palace (French)

The interim president of Chad, he succeeded his father, Idriss Deby, who was killed by rebels after 30 years of ruling the country. He was born in 1984 and comes from the Zaghawa tribe. He participated in a number of military operations against the rebels. When he assumed the transitional phase, he pledged to hold democratic elections and transfer rule to civilians within 18 months, but he extended it for another two years, which led to the outbreak of violent protests rejecting the extension.

He launched a national dialogue that brought together the parties representing the Council and the opposition, which resulted in the signing of the Doha Agreement, then a dialogue in N'Djamena that laid out a road map for the transitional phase after extending it for two years. This dialogue was boycotted by political movements and rebel groups because it paves the way for the inheritance of power.

On March 2, 2024, he announced his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled to be held on May 6, 2024, representing a coalition of parties “For a United Chad.”

Birth and upbringing

Mohamed Idriss Déby Itno was born on April 4, 1984 in the capital, N'Djamena. He is known by the nickname "Kaka", or grandmother in the Chadian language, in reference to his paternal grandmother, who raised him.

His father is former President Idriss Deby, who was killed by rebels in April 2021 after ruling the country for three decades.

His father comes from the Zaghawa tribe, which is spread on the border with Sudan and represents 1% of the population, while his mother is from the Gorran tribe, also called the Tebu, which is an ethnic group spread in several regions of Chad, especially the Tibesti mountains, and represents 6.3% of the total population.

He has 3 wives. He married the first in 2010, the daughter of the former Central African minister, Abacar Sabon, with whom he had 5 children. Then he married another from the Zaghawa tribe.

As for his third wife, her name is Dahbaya Omar Soni, she is from the Gorran and the daughter of an army general. She worked as a journalist before his father appointed her as director of public relations for the presidency in December 2019.

With her husband assuming the presidency of the Military Council, she became the First Lady, and on May 16, 2021, a decree was issued appointing her as a media advisor among 23 advisors to the Military Council.

Deby Jr. is described as secretive and taciturn, while those close to him say that he is sociable and easy to reach.

Study and scientific training

He was educated in local schools in N'Djamena, then joined the combined military school group, before traveling to France to receive a 3-month training course at the Military High School of Aix-en-Provence.

Professional experience

After graduating from the military college with the rank of lieutenant, he was appointed deputy commander of the infantry division in the General Directorate of the State Institutions Security Service. He participated in repelling the rebel attack on the capital in April 2006. He also participated in military operations against rebel groups in the town of Umm Dam in the east of the country in 2009.

A year later, he assumed command of the Armored Division of the Elite Corps of the Presidential Guard. In 2012, he was appointed head of the Presidential Guard, and the following year he was appointed Assistant Commander of the Chadian Armed Forces in Mali, which was under the command of General Omar Bikomo. He participated in battles alongside the French army to stop the advance of Islamic groups toward... The capital, Bamako.

Deby was promoted to the rank of battalion commander, then lieutenant colonel, then colonel, then brigadier general, before being appointed lieutenant general in 2015. A year before that, he was appointed director general of the state institutions’ security services, and in 2018 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. On December 1, 2021, an additional star was added to his shoulder, making him a general (major-general) in the army.

To the presidency of Chad

He assumed the presidency of the Transitional Military Council on April 20, 2021, the day of the death of his father, who died from wounds he sustained in clashes with northern rebels, days after the initial results of the April 11 elections were announced, in which he obtained 80% of the votes that qualified him to obtain a presidential term. Sixth.

The military council included 15 generals, and promised to hold free and democratic elections and return power to civilians at the end of a transitional phase lasting 18 months, which can be extended once, after the parliament and government were dissolved and the constitution was abolished.

On May 3, 2021, Déby announced the formation of a transitional government of 40 members, including members of the opposition, but most of the sovereign ministries were in the hands of the late president’s party.

Idriss Deby after being announced as President of the Transitional Military Council in 2021 (Anatolia)

Dialogue and negotiation

Déby Jr. initially refused to negotiate or dialogue with the rebel groups, but he retracted his position, announcing an initiative for national dialogue, calling on all political parties and armed groups to participate, and establishing a Ministry of National Reconciliation. He also appointed an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic in charge of reconciliation and dialogue.

In March 2022, talks were launched in Qatar between the Chadian parties, in the presence of representatives of the African Union and a number of regional and international organizations.

The talks ended with the transitional government and representatives of these movements signing a peace agreement on August 8, 2022, called the “Doha Peace Agreement and the Participation of Political-Military Movements in the Comprehensive Sovereign National Dialogue in Chad,” which the Secretary-General of the United Nations described as a key moment for the Chadian people.

About 40 movements signed this agreement, and 19 others rejected it, led by the Liberation and Accord Front (FACT), the largest rebel movement behind the killing of the former president.

The agreement included a number of provisions, including a complete and final cessation of hostilities, the political-military movements disarming and demobilizing their fighters, adopting and implementing an amnesty law for the leaders and members of the armed movements that signed the agreement, which includes all judicial convictions and charges related to participation in the rebellion or assaulting the security and safety of the state, and ensuring Their physical safety, property and relatives upon their return to Chad. The parties also pledged to organize a national dialogue whose decisions would be binding on all.

In implementation of the terms of the Doha Agreement, on August 20, 2022, N'Djamena witnessed the organization of the "comprehensive and sovereign national dialogue" that lasted 3 weeks and brought together representatives of the civil and armed opposition and the military council with the aim of turning the page on the transitional phase and developing a road map for holding free and democratic elections.

A large part of the political opposition and civil society boycotted this dialogue in rejection of what they considered “the inheritance of rule,” in addition to a number of armed rebel groups.

On October 8, 2022, the “Comprehensive and Sovereign National Dialogue” forum announced the extension of the transitional phase for two years, and the appointment of Idriss Deby as president of the phase in preparation for holding democratic and transparent elections.

The forum also approved granting Deby and members of the military council the right to run in the presidential elections at the end of the transitional period.

In March 2023, the transitional president - by decree - pardoned hundreds of rebels from the Change and Accord Front after they were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the murder of Déby Sr. and committing “terrorist” acts.

In a step towards a "democratic transition", on December 17, 2023, Chadians voted on a draft new constitution that paves the way for the restoration of civilian rule, which was approved by 86% of voters.

The opposition called for a boycott of the referendum and rejected its results, as it included articles allowing the transitional president to run for the presidency even though he had previously promised not to run. One of its articles lowered the age of candidacy from 40 to 35, which the opposition considered paving the way for Deby to run for office and continue in power. It also gave military commanders the right to In running for presidential elections.

 Bloody protests

Since Déby Jr. headed the Transitional Council, the country has witnessed riots and protests rejecting military rule and the “passion of power,” calling for the transfer of rule to civilians as soon as possible.

The most violent of these protests took place on October 20, 2022, in N'Djamena and other areas, following the extension of Idriss Deby's term for another two years.

These protests turned into violent clashes, resulting in the death of about 60 people, the injury of hundreds, and the arrest of a large number of protesters. The work of 7 opposition political parties was suspended for 3 months and their offices were searched.

The government imposed a state of emergency in the capital and 3 cities (south). Human rights organizations said that the security forces used excessive force to suppress the protests, and confirmed that they observed cases of shooting, torture, and arbitrary arrests, while the government described the protests as an armed rebellion “to seize power.”

French support

Although his assumption of power was a “coup,” as the opposition describes it, as the constitution stipulates that temporary executive powers are transferred to the President of the National Assembly in the event of the president’s death, Déby Jr. enjoys significant Western support, especially from France.

French President Emmanuel Macron attended his father's funeral, and said in his speech that Paris would not allow anyone to threaten Chad's stability and territorial integrity.

Deby visited France in October 2023, where he met Macron, and they discussed the progress of the political transition period, in addition to other regional issues.

Paris is betting on him, as it was betting on his father, to ensure the continuation of its interests in Chad, which is considered its strategic ally and the last center of influence in the Sahel and Sahara region after the expulsion of its military forces from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

There are three French military bases in Chad, the largest of which is the Haji Qusay air base in the capital, where about a thousand soldiers are stationed.

Source: websites