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Chad: Idriss Deby

Chad: Idriss Deby President Deby, who recently added the patronymic of his grandfather, Itno, to his name, was born in 1952 at Fada in the north‐east. He is a Muslim and a member of the Zaghawa ethnic group, a branch of the Goranes, whose homeland is on the frontier with Sudan to the east. He enrolled at N'djamena Officer's Academy, and later acquired a professional pilot's licence in France . Back home, he threw in his lot with Hissene Habre , who had launched a struggle for power and finally achieved it in 1982, overthrowing President Goukouni Oueddei ( Vol. 19, p. 6615 ). As reward for his support, Deby was appointed military commander‐in‐chief. His fame mounted with success in battle against rebels in the country who had the backing of Libya to the north. In 1985 Habre dispatched Deby to Paris to the military academy. On his return he obtained the key post of presidential military adviser. Nevertheless relations between him and the president became strained. Accused of plotting to overthrow Habre ( Vol. 26 , pp . 9487 , 9255 ), Deby in 1989 fled N'djamena for Libya and then to Sudan , where he raised his own army, The Patriotic Salvation Movement . He then launched a military campaign that eventually led him back to N'djamena and to power in 1990 after Habre fled ( Vol. 27 , p . 9945 ). Chad adopted a multi‐party system and convened a national conference to decide its future. Deby was elected president in 1996 ( Vol . 33 , p . 12296 ) in Chad's first‐ever presidential poll with more than one candidate. One of the opposing political parties was admitted into the government. Yet despite re‐election five years ago, Deby has come under more and more criticism from opposition ranks over alleged vote‐rigging, human rights violations and increasing poverty, despite Chad's admission in 2003 to the club of oil producers. Worse still, his own tribe has been split by internal differences over the civil war engulfing neighbouring Darfur in Sudan. Deby has been accused of failing to back his Zaghawa brothers in Darfur. The army became restless and Deby's power was severely shaken by an attempted coup in May 2004 ( Vol . 41 , p . 15761 ). Since October 2005 desertions by officers and defections from among the president's entourage have accelerated, strengthening the ranks of the increasingly threatening rebels, who Deby has claimed are being armed by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. Deby, now ill and further undermined by a row with the World Bank over management of petrodollars, escaped a coup attempt on March 14 th ( p. 16563 ). Two weeks later the rebel FUC movement fought back as far as the gates of the capital. Rescued by loyal troops, Deby hopes his victory at the ballot box will provide a respite for his battered regime. How realistic that hope is, remains for time to tell. ( Africa Today , June ) Presidential Election Results Candidate Party* Votes % Idriss Deby MPS 1,863,042 64.67 Delwa Kassiré Koumakoye Viva‐RNDP 436,002 15.13 Albert Pahimi Padacké RNDT‐Le Reveil 225,368 7.82 Mahamat Abdoulaye MPDT 203,637 7.07 Brahim Koulamallah MSA/R 152,940 5.31 Total turnout 53.1% 100 * MPS = Patriotic Salvation Movement; RNDP = National Rally for Development and Progress; RNDT = National Rally of Chadian Democrats; MPDT = People's Movement for Democracy in Chad; MSA/R = Renewed African Socialist Movement. ( African Elections Database May ) http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

Chad: Idriss Deby

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2006.00334.x
Publisher site
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Abstract

President Deby, who recently added the patronymic of his grandfather, Itno, to his name, was born in 1952 at Fada in the north‐east. He is a Muslim and a member of the Zaghawa ethnic group, a branch of the Goranes, whose homeland is on the frontier with Sudan to the east. He enrolled at N'djamena Officer's Academy, and later acquired a professional pilot's licence in France . Back home, he threw in his lot with Hissene Habre , who had launched a struggle for power and finally achieved it in 1982, overthrowing President Goukouni Oueddei ( Vol. 19, p. 6615 ). As reward for his support, Deby was appointed military commander‐in‐chief. His fame mounted with success in battle against rebels in the country who had the backing of Libya to the north. In 1985 Habre dispatched Deby to Paris to the military academy. On his return he obtained the key post of presidential military adviser. Nevertheless relations between him and the president became strained. Accused of plotting to overthrow Habre ( Vol. 26 , pp . 9487 , 9255 ), Deby in 1989 fled N'djamena for Libya and then to Sudan , where he raised his own army, The Patriotic Salvation Movement . He then launched a military campaign that eventually led him back to N'djamena and to power in 1990 after Habre fled ( Vol. 27 , p . 9945 ). Chad adopted a multi‐party system and convened a national conference to decide its future. Deby was elected president in 1996 ( Vol . 33 , p . 12296 ) in Chad's first‐ever presidential poll with more than one candidate. One of the opposing political parties was admitted into the government. Yet despite re‐election five years ago, Deby has come under more and more criticism from opposition ranks over alleged vote‐rigging, human rights violations and increasing poverty, despite Chad's admission in 2003 to the club of oil producers. Worse still, his own tribe has been split by internal differences over the civil war engulfing neighbouring Darfur in Sudan. Deby has been accused of failing to back his Zaghawa brothers in Darfur. The army became restless and Deby's power was severely shaken by an attempted coup in May 2004 ( Vol . 41 , p . 15761 ). Since October 2005 desertions by officers and defections from among the president's entourage have accelerated, strengthening the ranks of the increasingly threatening rebels, who Deby has claimed are being armed by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. Deby, now ill and further undermined by a row with the World Bank over management of petrodollars, escaped a coup attempt on March 14 th ( p. 16563 ). Two weeks later the rebel FUC movement fought back as far as the gates of the capital. Rescued by loyal troops, Deby hopes his victory at the ballot box will provide a respite for his battered regime. How realistic that hope is, remains for time to tell. ( Africa Today , June ) Presidential Election Results Candidate Party* Votes % Idriss Deby MPS 1,863,042 64.67 Delwa Kassiré Koumakoye Viva‐RNDP 436,002 15.13 Albert Pahimi Padacké RNDT‐Le Reveil 225,368 7.82 Mahamat Abdoulaye MPDT 203,637 7.07 Brahim Koulamallah MSA/R 152,940 5.31 Total turnout 53.1% 100 * MPS = Patriotic Salvation Movement; RNDP = National Rally for Development and Progress; RNDT = National Rally of Chadian Democrats; MPDT = People's Movement for Democracy in Chad; MSA/R = Renewed African Socialist Movement. ( African Elections Database May )

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Jun 1, 2006

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