Chad’s Prime Minister Masra Resigns After Interim President Deby Wins Presidential Election

Chad’s prime minister and opposition leader, Succes Masra, on Wednesday, resigned after interim President, Mahamat Idriss Deby, was announced winner of the May 6 presidential election.

Masra, a strong adversary of the junta in April 2021, was appointed prime minister of the interim government in January, four months prior to the election as a gesture to mollify opposition.

His candidacy for the presidential election was approved in March, marking a significant step towards restoring constitutional governance in the oil-producing nation. This move set a precedent for other coup affected states in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa.

Masra claimed victory prior to the official announcement of preliminary results, asserting that there were plans for electoral fraud.

The electoral body of Chad state had announced, and eventually confirmed Deby as the winner of the election by 61% vote.

Masra has accepted the council’s decision, stating that there are no further legal avenues to challenge the results.

He said in a post on X on Wednesday, “In accordance with the constitution, I have today presented… my resignation and that of the transitional government, which has become irrelevant with the end of the presidential election of May 6.”

Deby’s win extends the rule of the family that has been entrenched in power since his father seized control in a coup in the early 1990s.

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