In Chad, junta leader Mahamat Déby appoints transitional parliament

Published on : 09/24/2021 – 10:14 PM

The head of the junta in power in Chad, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, “appointed” by decree on Friday, September 24, the members who will compose the temporary parliament, five months after proclaiming himself president on the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno.

“The personalities whose names follow are appointed members of the National Transitional Council (CNT)”, reads a decree signed by General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno. When the latter proclaimed himself head of state at the head of a Military Transitional Council (CMT) on April 20, he promised to quickly appoint this CNT.

This body “will act as a transitional National Assembly” pending elections, said a file distributed to the press on Friday.

Quotas fixed in advance

The 93 names follow quotas fixed in advance, in particular at least 30% of deputies of the outgoing National Assembly, dissolved when the junta seized power, 30% of women and 30% of young people.

When Mahamat Déby, 37, proclaimed himself head of state at the head of a CMT, he promised “free and transparent elections” before 18 months and to quickly appoint this CNT, but this transitional parliament s is long overdue.

Members of the former opposition to the late President Déby are part of it, but none from the Wakit Tamma platform, from the parties and civil society organizations which denounce the coup de force of the Déby son.

The junta, the CMT, led by Mahamat Déby and made up of 14 other generals, holds most of the executive power but, on May 11, under intense international pressure, appointed a government entrusted to a civilian prime minister, Albert Pahimi. Padacké, the last to already occupy this function under the late Idriss Déby.

Marshal Déby had ruled Chad with an iron fist for 30 years before being killed on April 19 while leading an offensive against a column of rebels in the north.

With AFP