Idriss Déby

After three months of the provisional government, on 28 February 1991, a charter was approved for Chad with Déby as president. During the following two years, Déby faced a series of coup attempts as government forces clashed with pro-Habré rebel groups, such as the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD).[23] Seeking to quell dissent, in 1993 Chad legalized political parties and held a National Conference which resulted in the gathering of 750 delegates, the government, trade unions, and the army to discuss the establishment of a pluralist democracy.[24]

However, unrest continued. The Comité de Sursaut National pour la Paix et la Démocratie (CSNPD), led by Lt. Moise Kette, and other southern groups sought to prevent the Déby government from exploiting oil in the Doba Basin[25] and started a rebellion that left hundreds dead. A peace agreement was reached in 1994, but it broke down soon thereafter. Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde, and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces from 1994 to 1995.[26][27]

Déby, in the mid-1990s, gradually restored basic functions of government and entered into agreements with the World Bank and IMF to carry out substantial economic reforms.

A new constitution was approved by referendum in March 1996, followed by a presidential election in June. Déby fell short of a majority; he was then elected president in the second round of votes held in July, with 69% of the vote.[28]

Déby was re-elected in the May 2001 presidential election, winning in the first round with 63.17% of the vote, according to official results.[28][29] A civil war between Christians and Muslims erupted in 2005, accompanied by tensions with Sudan. An attempted coup d'état, involving the shooting down of Déby's plane, was foiled in March 2006.[30]

Idriss Déby giving an interview in his office, 2004

In mid-April 2006, there was fighting with rebels at N'Djaména, although the fighting soon subsided with government forces still in control of the capital.[31] Déby subsequently broke ties with Sudan, accusing it of backing the rebels,[32] and said that the May 2006 election would still take place.[33]

Deby was sworn in for another term in office on 8 August 2006.[34] Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir attended Déby's inauguration, and the two leaders agreed to restore diplomatic relations on this occasion.[35]

After Déby's re-election, several rebel groups broke apart. Déby was in Abéché from 11 to 21 September 2006, flying in a helicopter to personally oversee attacks on Rally of Democratic Forces rebels.[36]

The rebellion in the east continued, and rebels reached N'Djamena on 2 February 2008, with fighting occurring inside the city.[37] After days of fighting, the government remained in control of N'Djamena. Speaking at a press conference on 6 February, Déby said that his forces had defeated the rebels, whom he described as "mercenaries directed by Sudan", and that his forces were in "total control" of the city as well as the whole country.[38]

Against this backdrop, in June 2005, a successful referendum was held to eliminate a two-term constitutional limit, which enabled Déby to run again in 2006.[39] More than 77% of voters approved.[40] Déby was a candidate in the 2006 presidential election, held 3 May, which was greeted with an opposition boycott. According to official results Déby won the election with 64.67% of the vote.[41]

In 2000, with the north/south dispute quelled, Déby's government started building the country's first oil pipeline, the 1,070 kilometer Chad-Cameroon project.[42] The pipeline was completed in 2003 and praised by the World Bank as "an unprecedented framework to transform oil wealth into direct benefits for the poor, the vulnerable and the environment".[43]

Oil exploitation in the southern Doba region began in June 2000, with World Bank Board approval to finance a small portion of a project, the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project, aimed at transport of Chadian crude through a 1000-km buried pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea. The project established unique mechanisms for World Bank, private sector, government, and civil society collaboration to guarantee that future oil revenues benefit populations and result in poverty alleviation.

However, with Chad receiving only 12.5% of profits from oil production, and the agreement for these revenues to be deposited into a London-based Citibank escrow account monitored by an independent body to ensure the funds were used for public services and development,[44][45] not much wealth was immediately transferred to the country. In 2006, Déby made international news after calling for his country to have a 60 percent stake in the Chad-Cameroon oil output after receiving "crumbs" from foreign companies running the industry.[46] He said Chevron and Petronas were refusing to pay taxes totalling $486.2 million. Chad passed a World Bank-backed oil revenues law that required most of its oil revenue to be allocated to health, education, and infrastructure projects. The World Bank had previously frozen an oil revenue account in a dispute over how Chad spent its oil profits, with Déby accused of using the funds to consolidate his power. Déby rejected those claims, arguing that the country does not receive nearly enough royalties to make meaningful change in the fight against poverty.[47][48]

Déby in 2012

On 25 April 2011, Déby was re-elected for a fourth term with 88.7% of the vote and reappointed Emmanuel Nadingar as Prime Minister.[49]

Because of Chad's strategic position in West Africa, Déby sent troops or played a key mediating role in tackling multiple regional crises, such as Darfur, the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, as well as the fight against Boko Haram.[19][50]

With the security situation in the Central African Republic deteriorating, Déby decided in 2012 to deploy 400 troops to fight the CAR rebels. In January 2013, Chad also sent 2000 troops to fight Islamist groups in Mali, as part of France's Operation Serval.[51][52]

Chad's recent history, under Déby's leadership, has been characterized as having been rife with endemic corruption and a deeply entrenched patronage system that permeated society, according to Transparency International.[9] The recent exploitation of oil has fueled corruption, as revenues have been misused by the government to strengthen its armed forces and reward its cronies, which contributes to the undermining of the country's governance system.[9] In 2006, Chad was placed at the top of the list of the world's most corrupt nations by Forbes magazine,[10][53][54][55] In 2012, Déby launched a nationwide anticorruption campaign called Operation Cobra, which reportedly recovered some $50 million in embezzled funds.[56][57] Nongovernmental organizations say, however, that Déby has used such initiatives to punish rivals and reward cronies.[58] As of 2016, Transparency International ranked Chad 147 out of 168 nations on its corruption index.[59]

Idriss Deby with Obamas in August 2014

Faced with a growing threat from Boko Haram, Déby increased Chad's participation in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a combined multinational formation comprising units from Niger, Nigeria, Benin, and Cameroon.[60] In August 2015, Déby claimed in an interview that the MNJTF has successfully "decapitated" Boko Haram.[61]

Idriss Déby Itno and Chadian First Lady waiting to vote, April 2016

In January 2016, Déby succeeded Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to become the chairman of the African Union for a one-year term. Upon his inauguration, Déby told presidents that conflicts around the continent had to end "Through diplomacy or by force... We must put an end to these tragedies of our time. We cannot make progress and talk of development if part of our body is sick. We should be the main actors in the search for solution to Africa's crises".[62] One of Déby's first priorities was to accelerate the fight against Boko Haram. On 4 March, the African Union agreed to expand the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to 10,000 troops.

During the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, Idriss Déby raised the issue of Lake Chad, whose area was a small fraction of what it had been in 1973, and called on the international community to provide financing to protect the ecosystem.[63]

In Fébruary 2016, Déby was nominated by the Patriotic Salvation Movement to run for a new term in the April 2016 Presidential elections.[64] He pledged to reinstate term limits in the Constitution of Chad in saying that "We must limit terms, we must not concentrate on a system in which a change in power becomes difficult. "In 2005 the constitutional reform was conducted in a context where life of the nation was in danger".[65]

In 2017, the United States Justice Department alleged Déby accepted a $2 million bribe in return for providing a People's Republic of China company with an opportunity to obtain oil rights in Chad without international competition.[66]

In January 2019, Déby and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the resumption of diplomatic relations between Chad and Israel. Netanyahu described his visit to Chad as “part of the revolution we are having in the Arab and Muslim world.”[67]

Marshal Idriss Déby Itno in 2020

Déby signed a bill abolishing capital punishment in 2020. The firing squad had last been used on terrorists in 2015.[68]

In February 2021, Déby announced Chad would send 1,200 soldiers alongside French troops to the Sahel border between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, to combat al-Qaeda linked groups.[69]

In the 2021 presidential election, Déby won his sixth term as president, when results were announced on 19 April, with 79.32% of the votes.[70] In February earlier in the same year, Chadian security forces had attempted to arrest leader of the opposition Yaya Dillo Djérou, with Djérou claiming five members of his family were killed during this attempt, and the government instead reporting three were killed. Most political opponents had withdrawn from the election, urging a boycott, alleging attacks and excessive use of force by security forces during anti-government protests.[71] Instead of giving a victory speech, Déby went to visit the Chadian soldiers on the frontlines fighting the northern rebel incursion by the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (abbreviated FACT in French).[72] He was said to have been mortally wounded in the village of Mele, near the town of Nokou,[73] on Sunday, 18 April, and was flown to the capital,[74] where he died on 20 April.[75][76]