Chad: Mahamat Déby Itno has sworn in for a 5-year term
The general Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, elected president of Chad following the presidential election on May 6th, officially took the oath on Thursday, May 23rd. It was before members of the Constitutional Council and hundreds of guests at a solemn ceremony held at the Palais des Arts et de la Culture in N’Djamena.
Elected in the presidential election on May 6th, with 61% of the votes cast, Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno officially assumed office on Thursday for a five-year term, renewable only once.
« We, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno […], swear before the Chadian people and on our honor […] to fulfill the high functions entrusted to us by the Nation», declared the head of state, promising to be « the president of Chadians from all backgrounds and sensitivities ».
In the evening, the presidency announced the appointment of Allamaye Halina as Prime Minister. Halina, a former ambassador of Chad to China and close to the Déby clan, succeeds former opposition leader Succès Masra, who was appointed Prime Minister four months ago. Masra, who presented a rival candidacy described by the opposition as a democratic facade in a « predetermined election », submitted his resignation on Wednesday and was absent from the inauguration ceremony.
It is worth noting that the inauguration ceremony was attended by leaders from other African countries, such as Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé. Cameroonian President Paul Biya was represented at the ceremony by his Minister of Administration, Paul Atanga Nji. French President Emmanuel Macron dispatched his Minister Delegate in charge of Foreign Trade and Francophonie, Franck Riester, to the ceremony.
