Chad’s parliament on Friday adopted a controversial constitutional amendment extending presidential terms from five to seven years, with no limits on re-election.
The revision passed with 236 votes in favour and none against, out of 257 lawmakers from both parliamentary chambers.
The change further consolidates power under President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who was installed by the military as transitional leader in 2021 following the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled Chad for 30 years before being killed in a clash with rebels.
Though Deby initially pledged an 18-month transition to civilian rule, he later extended it by two years. After a new constitution was approved in a December 2023 referendum, Deby, now 41, won the May 2024 presidential election, which international observers deemed not credible.
Under the current constitution, presidential terms are limited to two five-year mandates. The newly adopted amendment replaces that with renewable seven-year terms, beginning with the next presidential election.
The vote, originally scheduled for October 13, was brought forward. Members of the opposition party National Rally of Chadian Democrats–The Awakening (RNDT) staged a walkout just before the vote, an AFP journalist reported.
In a letter to lawmakers, former Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacké, leader of the RNDT, denounced the amendment as “unconstitutional and authoritarian.”
AFP
