Chad's transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno on Monday (January 1st) appointed Succès Masra, one of his main opponents who returned from exile in November after a reconciliation agreement, as prime minister.

"Dr. Succès Masra has been appointed prime minister, head of the transitional government," the secretary general of the presidency of the republic, Mahamat Ahmat Alabo, announced on state television.

The president of the Transformers party had been among the most virulent opponents of the military power in place in Chad for two and a half years, after the death in April 2021 of Idriss Déby Itno, who had ruled the country with an iron fist for thirty years.

Masra had publicly called on his camp to vote "yes" in the referendum for a new constitution promulgated on Friday, a key step that was supposed to pave the way for elections.

Read alsoIn Chad, a constitutional referendum after two and a half years of military rule

But for some of the opposition and civil society, the result of this election is akin to a plebiscite designed to prepare the election of the transitional president, General Mahamat Idriss Déby.

Reconciliation Agreement

On 20 October 2022, demonstrators from the Transformers headquarters protested against the military's continued rule, after extending an 18-month transition by two years, after which it had initially promised to return power to civilians through elections.

About 300 people were killed that day, according to the authorities, and between <> and <> according to the opposition and local and international NGOs.

Like several other opposition leaders, Masra was forced into exile a few days later and was only able to return to the country on 3 November following a reconciliation agreement signed in Kinshasa on 31 October. The government pledged to guarantee "the free exercise of its political activities" to Succès Masra, who told him that he wanted to "continue the dialogue (...) with a view to a peaceful political solution".

Several opposition parties had distanced themselves from Masra, also expressing their disagreement with the general amnesty pronounced for "all Chadians, civilians and soldiers" involved in the "Black Thursday" events.

With AFP

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