Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby’s son will take over as president in place of his father, according to a charter released on Wednesday by the presidency.
It said General Mahamat Idriss Deby, 37, who on Tuesday was swiftly named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father’s death, will “occupy the functions of the president of the republic” and also serve as head of the armed forces.
The charter repeals the preceding constitution and will be implemented as the basic law of the republic, according to its terms. The younger Deby has also been named supreme head of the armed forces, it said.
Before now, Mahamat Deby had overseen the president’s security as head of the elite presidential guard (DGSSIE) and had often appeared alongside him. He was also a senior commander of the Chadian forces assisting a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the restive north of neighbouring Mali.
Meanwhile Mahamat Deby signed a decree on Tuesday setting out a military council with 15 generals, including himself and 14 others known to have been part of the late president’s circle of loyalists. The council is tasked with an 18-month transition toward “free and democratic elections.”
The new leader also chairs the “military transition council, the council of ministers, the councils and superior committees of national defence,” according to the charter. He will promulgate legislation adopted by the 69 members of the national transition council, who are named directly by Mahamat.
