By Madjiasra Nako, N’DJAMENA Chad
The son
of Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces
commander on Wednesday as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital,
deepening the turmoil in a country vital to international efforts to combat
Islamist militants in Africa.His son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers.
The political opposition denounced the military’s takeover of
control, as did an army general who said he spoke for many officers. Labour
unions called for a workers’ strike.
Deby, 68, was killed on Monday on the frontline in a battle
against fighters of the Libyan-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad
(FACT), a group formed by dissident army officers.
ALSO READ: Chad's President Idriss Deby killed in frontline clashes with rebels, state TV reports
His death shocked the nation and raised concerns among Western
allies, notably France and the United States, who had counted on him as an ally
in their fight against Islamist groups including Islamic State and Boko Haram.
Deby had been in power since 1990 and had just been declared
winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in
office. His son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president by a
transitional council of military officers.
General Deby, 37, moved to consolidate his position on
Wednesday, with the council issuing a new charter in place of the constitution
granting him the functions of president and also naming him as head of the armed
forces.
In his first public comments since taking power, Deby said the
army wanted to return power to a civilian government and hold free and
democratic elections in 18 months.
“The military council has no ambition to govern the country
alone,” he said in a speech to political party representatives, posted on the
presidency website.
The military also announced it had re-opened Chad’s borders,
which were closed after Deby’s death.
The FACT rebels rejected the military’s plan and said on Wednesday
that a pause in hostilities they are observing to give time for Deby to be
buried would end at midnight.
“The forces of national resistance are more than ever determined
to deliver the Chadian people from this abominable dictatorship,” they said in
a statement.
The statement also warned foreign heads of state against going to Deby’s funeral on Friday “for imperatives of security”. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to attend, a spokesman said.
A spokesman for FACT, which is not linked to jihadists, said its
forces were now in Kanem region about 200-300 km (125-190 miles) north of
N’Djamena and their aim was to bring democracy to Chad after years of
authoritarian rule by Deby.
The fighters swept across the vast country’s northern border
last weekend.
“We don’t want to seize power to hold power. Our objective is
for democratic transitions to be a reality,” the spokesman said, adding the
group was preparing to march on N’Djamena.
ALSO READ: Chad military council abrogates the constitution as it assumes functions of presidency
FACT claimed responsibility for the injuries that killed Deby on
Monday. An ex-army officer who often joined soldiers on the battlefront, Deby
was visiting troops who had held up the rebel advance in intense fighting over
the weekend.
He was wounded by gunfire in the village of Mele near the town
of Nokou, more than 300 km (190 miles) north of N’Djamena, and evacuated to the
capital where he later died, the FACT spokesman said. The presidency has not
commented on the exact circumstances of his death.
In N’Djamena, reactions poured in to the military’s takeover and
dissolution of the government and parliament. Under the constitution, the
speaker of the National Assembly should have become interim president.
The speaker, Haroun Kabadi, said in a statement that “given the
military, security and political context” he had agreed to a military transition
“with full lucidity”.
But in a joint statement, about a dozen opposition party
leaders, many of whom boycotted the election, condemned what they called “the
institutional coup d’etat conducted by the generals”.
Civil society organisations also called for a return to civilian
rule, and a coalition of armed groups demanded an inclusive national dialogue.
Idriss Abderamane Dicko, an active-duty general who previously
served in Deby’s military cabinet, said many officers opposed the military
council’s takeover and called for dialogue.
“If they continue to maintain their position and impose their
point of view, the risk of division at the heart of the army is not to be
excluded,” he told our reporter.
Deby had won friends abroad by sending his well-trained army to
fight Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al Qaeda and
Islamic State in the Sahel.
His main ally, France, has about 5,100 troops based across the
region as part of international efforts to fight the militants, including its
main base in N’Djamena. The United States also has military personnel there.
France has called for the creation of a civilian government
within a “limited period”. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told
reporters Washington “would be concerned with anything that stands in the way”
of a transition to civilian rule.
Regional powerhouse Nigeria’s foreign minister said it was
willing to help facilitate dialogue, but that while an early return to
democratic rule was the ultimate goal, the immediate objective was the
stabilisation of Chad and the region.
Human Rights Watch criticised the West’s relationship with Deby,
saying that for years it had propped up Deby’s government while turning a blind
eye to his repression.
In N’Djamena, where authorities imposed a nightly curfew after
Deby’s death, schools and some businesses were open on Wednesday but many
people stayed home and streets were quiet.
A 14-day period of national mourning is being observed.
“We must make sure that this military council does not take over
power,” said Djimadoum Ngarteri, a teacher, calling for all sides to lay down
weapons. “We Chadians are fed up. We do not need people who take power with
weapons.” - Reuters
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