Saleh Kebzabo, historic opponent of former President Idriss Déby Itno, was appointed Prime Minister of ChadWednesday October 12, by decree of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, proclaimed head of state on the death of his father, in 2021, and recently renewed for a two-year transition.
Mr. Kebzabo, 75, former journalist, four-time presidential candidate against the late Idriss Déby Itno and whose party joined the government appointed by the military junta led by General Mahamat Déby eighteen months ago, “is appointed Prime Minister”we read in a decree signed by the head of state.
On April 20, 2021, when the death of Marshal Déby was announced, killed by rebels on his way to the front, the army proclaimed his son, Mahamat Déby, then 37 years old, President of the Republic at the head of a junta of fifteen generals for a transitional period of eighteen months leading to elections “free and democratic”.
But on Monday, he was again invested head of state for an extended transition of two years, on the proposal of a “national dialogue” supposed to bring together all the components of Chadian society as well as the rebellion, but boycotted by a very vast majority of the political and armed opposition. Mahamat Déby had promised on Monday to appoint “in the next few days” and “government of national unity”.
“Accompany” the Head of State
After his appointment, Mr. Kebzabo promised to” to accompany “ The head of state “in a great work (..) the next two years for the political transition”, answering questions from journalists outside his home. Mr. Kebzabo, after having been one of the most vindictive opponents during the last years of the regime of Déby senior, who reigned for 30 years with an iron fist over Chad, had quickly recognized the authority of his son . Two executives of his party, the National Union for Development and Renewal (UNDR), joined the first transitional government appointed by the junta in May 2021.
Mahamat Déby had appointed Mr. Kebzabo vice-president of the organizing committee of the Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue (DNIS), strongly criticized by a large part of the opposition and among the main rebel movements. The latter accuse him of having prolonged the transition on Saturday, maintaining Mahamat Déby at the head of the state and, above all, of having allowed him to run for president in two years, contrary to a commitment made to the international community. The opposition, which denounced a “constitutional coup” in April 2021 – in unison moreover with Mr. Kebzabo’s party at this time -, considers that the DNIS has perpetuated “the Déby dynasty” in power.
Mr. Kebzabo, deputy, was Mr. Déby’s minister several times – notably for foreign affairs – in the 1990s when his party signed a government agreement with that of the president, before slamming the door in 1996. He then been a four-time presidential candidate (1996, 2001, 2008 and 2016). The opponent had withdrawn his candidacy a few days before the 2021 election which he had called for a boycott due to the invalidation of other candidates and the repression of opposition demonstrations.