Chad: Mahamat Idriss Déby, a pure product of the army at the head of the military council
Chadian General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno on April 11, 2021 in Ndjamena.
© MARCO LONGARI / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The death of Chadian head of state Idriss Déby Itno barely announced, a transitional military council of fifteen generals took power for a period of 18 months before, they announce, the holding of
"free and democratic election
".
The son of Idriss Déby, General Mahamat Idriss Déby is the first of them: a man of power, military, but rather discreet.
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Mahamat Idriss Déby is a pure product of the Chadian army.
According to some sources, he also enjoyed all the confidence of his father in the military field.
Aged 37, he studied at the Groupement des écoles military interarmées du Tchad.
He then made a course stay in a military school in France, before integrating the Chadian armies, following the directives of his father.
He then joined the General Directorate of Security Service for State Institutions (DGSSIE), the famous presidential guard.
Mahamat Idriss Déby, has already passed the test by fire on the ground since in 2009, at only 25 years old, he took part in the victorious battle of Am-Dam against a rebel coalition, led by Timan Erdimi, in the east from Chad.
At the head of the DGSSIE
In 2012, he was appointed to a position of trust, at the head of the group responsible for the security of the presidential palace, still within the DGSSIE. He will end up taking the lead of the latter.
Less well-known than his brother, Zakaria Idriss Déby Itno, deputy director of the civil cabinet at the presidency, he is perceived by some opponents as the “
executing hand
” of Idriss Déby. “
In recent years, there have been echoes of discussions within the presidential clan to consider that possibly a son or another member of the family can succeed the president
, explains on RFI Jérôme Tubiana, specialist in Chad.
But these discussions were rather divisive and did not necessarily lead to success. So Mahamat
was not the only option. There, it is the choice of the
"soldier of the family".
He was not necessarily chosen to succeed his father, but to react urgently to an unexpected death.
"
This DGSSIE, which he headed, stormed the home of the opponent Yaya Dillo a few months ago, while the latter was in legal proceedings with the first lady.
This operation killed several members of the opponent's family, including his mother.
Despite everything, for an observer of civil society, he is a highly esteemed leader of his men, and who has earned the respect of his soldiers on the battlefield.
In this troubled period, he would be a stabilizing factor, making unanimity among the generals.
► To read also: [Live] Chad: after the death of President Déby, a military council at the head of the country
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Idriss Deby Itno