Chad has officially marked the end of its four-year military transition period following the death of Idriss Deby Itno in 2021.
The proclamation of the senatorial election results on February 25, 2025, completes the establishment of institutions under the country’s new Constitution, signaling a significant turning point in Chad’s recent political history.
Mahamat Deby’s Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) secured a resounding victory in the senatorial elections, winning 45 of the 46 seats with a reported 99.92% voter turnout. This election finalizes the institutional framework outlined in the new Constitution, which was promulgated on December 29, 2024, following a referendum in December where the “Yes” vote prevailed with 85.90%.
This fifth constitution in Chad’s history establishes a decentralized unitary state and paved the way for the May 2024 presidential election. In that election, General (later promoted to Marshal) Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno won with 61.03% of the vote, defeating his main opponent, Succes Masra, who received 18.53%. Masra initially contested the results but ultimately conceded in February 2025, a move seen as a sign of political reconciliation.
The transition began in April 2021 after Idriss Deby Itno, the current president’s father, was killed in combat after 30 years in power. Mahamat Déby was then appointed head of state by the army, with the country governed by a Transition Charter that was amended during the Inclusive National Dialogue of 2022.
Now, with an elected president, a National Assembly where the MPS holds 124 of the 188 seats, and a newly formed Senate, Chad possesses all the institutions stipulated in its new fundamental law. This institutional completion symbolizes the formal return to civilian rule, albeit under the leadership of a former soldier from the same family as his predecessor.
President Deby faces numerous challenges, including implementing the promised decentralization, stabilizing a nation threatened by insurgent and terrorist groups along its borders, and addressing the socio-economic needs of a largely impoverished population despite the country’s oil wealth. While the MPS hails the end of the transition as the beginning of “a new era of sustainable institutional governance,” international observers have raised questions about the true nature of the change.
AC/Sf/fss/abj/APA