Idriss Deby
| Functions | |
|---|---|
| President of the Republic of Chad | |
| - ( 30 years, 4 months and 16 days ) | |
| Election | July 3, 1996 |
| Re-election | May 20, 2001 May 3, 2006 April 25, 2011 April 10, 2016 April 11, 2021 |
| President of the Patriotic Salvation Movement | |
| - ( 31 years, 1 month and 9 days ) | |
| General secretary | Mahamat Zen Bada Abbas |
| President of the African Union | |
| - ( 1 year ) | |
| Predecessor | Robert mugabe |
| Successor | Alpha Condé |
| Biography | |
| Birth name | Idriss Deby |
| Nickname | Idriss Deby |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of birth | Berdoba ( Chad ) |
| Date of death | (at 68) |
| Place of death | N'Djamena ( Chad ) |
| Nature of death | Killed by the enemy |
| Nationality | Chadian |
| Political party | MPS (1990-2021) |
| Spouse | Hinda Deby Itno |
| Children | Brahim Déby Mahamat Idriss Déby |
| Graduated from | Amaury de la Grange aeronautical institute ( Hazebrouck ) 2 . |
| Profession | Officer |
| Awards | Grand Cross of the National Order of Chad , Marshal of Chad |
| Religion | Islam |
| Residence | Pink Palace ( N'Djaména ) |
Idriss Déby born onin Berdoba and died onin N'Djaména , is a Chadian officer and statesman .
In 1990, with the support of France , he drove Hissène Habré from the head of the country, taking the title of President of the Council of State. The following year, he was appointed President of the Republic of Chad ; he then won the presidential elections of 1996 , 2001 , 2006 , 2011 , 2016 and 2021 . He was President of the African Union from 2016 to 2017.
He was appointed marshal in 2020, after a successful offensive against jihadists . A few months later, just after the announcement of his fifth re-election, he died at the front in the face of an armed rebellion from Libya , at the age of 68 and after thirty years in power. One of his sons, Mahamat Idriss Déby immediately took over the head of a Transitional Military Council.
Origin, training and career of Idriss Deby
Muslim , son of a poor shepherd from the Bideyat clan belonging to the Zaghawa ethnic group found on both sides of the Chad-Sudanese border. The Zaghawas are close to the Toubou people .
After his baccalaureate , he entered the school of officers in N'Djamena and obtained in 1976 a commercial pilot license in France (transport troops specialty to aeronautics Institute of Amaury Barn.
Idriss Déby supported President Félix Malloum until his fall in 1979 and the latter retained his support until his death.
Ascension policy of Idriss Deby
Alongside Hissène Habré
Returning to Chad in 1979, he collaborated with Hissène Habré , who went into rebellion in March 1980 against Goukouni Oueddei after the break-up of the Government of National Transitional Union (GUNT) formed five months earlier. Habré then appointed Déby as Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Armed Forces (FAN).
The Habré returns to the capital N'Djaména with Déby by his side, pushing President Goukouni Oueddei into exile in Algeria . Promoted colonel, Déby became deputy chief of the armed forces in 1983. He went to France in 1985 where he attended the Inter-Armed War School. Returning to Chad in 1986, he was appointed Habré's adviser for defense and security.
Attempted coup
At the end of the 1980s , relations between Idriss Déby and Habré deteriorated. One of his cousins, Hassan Djamous , replaces him as commander-in-chief while another of his cousins, Ibrahim Mahamat Itno, becomes Minister of the Interior. Habré's political police persecute and execute the Zaghawas.
After an attempted coup, the , the three men (Idriss Déby and his two cousins) flee. While Colonel Hassan Djamous is wounded and captured by the men of Hissène Habré, and his cousin Ibrahim Mahamat Itno killed, Idriss Déby succeeds in reaching Sudan then Libya where he obtains the help of the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi against the promise to release Libyan prisoners of war held in Chad. Déby returned to Sudan where he created, in March 1990 , the rebel movement of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS).
Taking power in 1990
The , with the help of the French intelligence services and the support of Libya and Sudan 14 , 3 , 8 , its forces seize N'Djaména and drive out Habré, who takes refuge in Senegal. Déby was then brought to the presidency of the Council of State from December 4, then appointed President of the Republic by his movement, then transformed into a political party . For his part, Habré will then be prosecuted by an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. for the atrocities committed during his reign in Chad.
President of the Republic
Acting Presidency
When he was inaugurated, he promised to hold a national conference whose main task was to draw up a new Constitution . He gets adopted as soon as a National Charter which lays down the guiding principles of the Chadian State and the bases of an institutional reform. The charter will serve as fundamental law until the promulgation of the Constitution on April 14, 1996. At the same time, he was promoted to General in 1995 .
From the beginning of the 1990s, he got closer to Hissein Hassan Abakar , president of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs of Chad from 1991 to 2018.
First term (1996-2001)
He was elected President of the Republic for a first term in 1996 during the first pluralist ballot by universal suffrage since independence (of the country) in 1960 and then opened his government to part of the opposition.
In , Idriss Déby officially launches the construction works of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in Komé ( Chad ) and Kribi ( Cameroon ).
Second term (2001-2006)
Idriss Déby considers the north of the Central African Republic to be strategic because of its oil resources.The , Idriss Déby was re-elected president in the first round with 63.17% of the votes.
In 2003 , he contributed to the seizure of power by François Bozizé.
In 2003 , he announced the end of the construction of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline and the start of oil production for the country. Chad joined the Association of African Petroleum Producers (APPA) in 2005 .
The , MEPs adopt a constitutional amendment that lifts the limit on presidential terms previously set at two. If this particular provision has focused the attention of the media, the constitutional reform has changed the country's institutions, first and foremost the abolition of the Senate, which has never really played its institutional role.
In , the rebels are on the verge of overthrowing the regime but the French forces present on the spot allow the hasty return of Idriss Déby who was visiting Equatorial Guinea for a CEMAC summit . The 2004 constitutional reform proposal was adopted by referendum on , 77.8% of the voters having voted in favor. The turnout was 71.61%. The , the rebels of the FUC (United Front for Change) enter N'Djaména and narrowly fail to overthrow the regime supported by the French who will shoot at the elements of the FUC (warning shot).
Third term (2006-2011)
He was re-elected for a third term onwith 64.67% of the votes cast, a month after the failed attack led by Captain Mahamat Nour's United Front for Change (FUC) on N'Djaména on April 13 .
An agreement was signed on August 13, 2007 between the regime and the various opposition parties aimed at starting a process of democratization.
The , during the rebel assault led by Mahamat Nouri and the brothers Tom and Timane Erdimi, one of his main opponents, Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh , was kidnapped from his home by the Chadian soldiers. The French government calls for a “clarification”. In F, two of the sons of the disappeared opponent file a complaint in France , and in 2013, a French examining magistrate decided to investigate his disappearance. It was against the opinion of the Paris prosecutor 's office that this investigating judge had decided to conduct him.
The prosecution therefore appealed against this decision. But ultimately the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal agreed with the judge considered that the legal criteria were met to authorize the investigation into the disappearance. In early 2013, little significant information was available on the fate of Ibni Saleh in the days following his kidnapping, despite the efforts of politicians or organizations that came to support the opponent and his supporters. close.
In , the Chadian rebels of the Unified Military Command (CMU) which is made up of the RFC of Timan Erdimi , the UFDD of Mahamat Nouri and the CNT of Hassan Al Djineidi launch a second offensive to take N'Djaména. At the beginning of February 2008 , it therefore again had to do with rebel attacks on the capital N'Djaména which led to the repatriation of French expatriates to Gabon and France . He suffered a setback in the battle Massaguet the 1st February and must repel the assault on the capital from 2 to .
Three times more numerous to rush from Sudan , once in town, the rebels surround the presidential palace on . Encircled in his palace, Deby calls several times a day the French President . This offers him exile in French territory. Thanks to France's full military support, including logistical aid (delivery of ammunition from Libya ), military intelligence and French troops fighting against the rebels, Idriss Déby managed to stay in power and the rebels withdrew.
The , he escapes an attempt to overthrow in the capital, he receives the support of France which accuses Sudan. He asks the European Union to dispatch as soon as possible the EUFOR peace force , whose main contingent is French.
Fourth term (2011-2016)
His party won 133 out of 188 seats in the parliamentary elections of .
The , he was reelected for a fourth term in the first round of the presidential election by 88.7% of the votes, against Albert Pahimi Padacké (6%) and Madou Nadji (5.3%). The main opponents had decided to boycott the election, contesting the conditions under which the elections would take place and denouncing an “electoral masquerade”. The turnout is 64.2% according to the electoral commission, but opponents also express doubts about the true turnout rate, which they estimate at 20%.
He opposes Western military intervention during the Libyan civil war of 2011 , a position that many media then described as support for General Muammar Gaddafi, some assert that he would have sent elements of the Chadian guard in the country. For his part, he declares that he wants the Libyan dictator to leave power, but gently and not following an armed intervention which "will leave traces" according to him.
In 2012 , he went to the Central African Republic with the former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya , mediator in the Central African Republic on behalf of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF). His visit is the subject of controversy because he would have supported the rebel movement of the Seleka . For his part, Idriss Déby claims to have gone there to encourage François Bozizé and to insist that he release Jean-Jacques Démafouth , leader of a politico-military movement.
In the month of , Idriss Déby launches a vast anti-corruption operation in the country, called “Operation Cobra” . The State then loses an amount estimated at 300 billion CFA francs (or 460 million euros ) per year due to embezzlement of public money. The aim is to secure the revenue and expenditure circuits and to control the procedures for preparing, awarding and executing public contracts . After one year and 23 inspection missions carried out in N'Djaména and 22 in the provinces, approximately 25 billion CFA francs have been recovered.
In , Chad sends troops to northern Mali to participate in Operation Serval. Idriss Déby then describes what is happening in northern Mali as the consequence of “the dislocation of Libya” and the “dissemination of its arsenal”. This action in Mali, or in the Central African Republic and Nigeria against Boko Haram, earned Idriss Déby strong support from France and the United States .
During this mandate, Idriss Déby launched a major economic diversification, the economy of the country being until then mainly based on the petroleum industry. While Chad was in 2001 among the least developed countries (LDCs) of the African continent, in 2015 it occupied third place in the Africa Performance Index (API), a tool for rating and ranking public sector institutions in Africa.
Idriss Déby released this same year 4.57 million euros to come to the aid of the Lake Chad region , plagued by desertification and fertile for the development of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. Chad being a strategic target for the terrorist group Boko Haram, Idriss Déby turns part of his policy of this mandate towards the fight against terrorism.
Faced with the growing threat of Boko Haram, a terrorist group rallied to the Islamic State in northern Nigeria , Idriss Deby increases Chad's participation in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), an armed force made up of Niger , from Nigeria , Benin and Cameroon. In , Idriss Déby declares on this subject in an interview that the MNJTF has "beheaded" Boko Haram.
The , on the occasion of the “Climate challenge and African solutions” summit on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21), Idriss Déby alerts the international community to the need for financing for the future of Lake Chad , including the surface has been divided by eight since 1973: “The question of Lake Chad is old. At all the meetings on the climate for 20 years, this issue has been raised from Copenhagen, Rio and today Paris. I am not sure that until today we have found ears, at least concrete actions ”.
Fifth term (2016-2021)
In , Idriss Déby announces his candidacy for the presidential election of .In early 2016, the Zouhoura affair (a young girl raped by the sons of dignitaries of the regime) sparked demonstrations . In the political context which saw the development of protests in sub-Saharan Africa, Idriss Déby had demonstrations banned and the perpetrators of the crime arrested.
He then included in his program the establishment of a term limit in the Constitution, declaring that in 2005, the reform of the Constitution was carried out in a context where "the nation was in danger" while in 2016, Chad “cannot concentrate on a system that a change of power would put in difficulty”. In April, without solid opposition, he was reelected in the first round with 59.9% of the votes.
During his inauguration speech, Idriss Déby developed the new priorities of this mandate, including the diversification of the Chadian economy , so far too focused on oil. He states in particular that" Salvation will never come from petroleum resources" before announcing to rely on agriculture and animal husbandry and to bet on mining. It also undertakes to expand drinking water coverage to 83% and renews its promise to build 3,000 km of paved roads as well as a large rail network to link Chad to Sudan , Cameroon and Nigeria.
The , Idriss Déby paid a diplomatic visit to Germany and met German Chancellor Angela Merkel the next day . This visit follows an invitation from the Chancellor made at the last G20 summit in China. This is the first official visit of a Chadian president to Germany.
In 2016 , he announced the development of approximately 250,000 hectares of land on the national territory, the strengthening of microloans for rural producers as well as the construction of new transport and energy infrastructure. He also signs the UN Agenda 2030 and the Malabo Declaration for the Growth and Transformation of Agriculture in Africa.
The , while the Chadian legislative elections were due to take place in 2016, he announces that they will not take place before 2019 due to lack of resources.
In S, an Amnesty International report denounces a wave of repression in Chad, under the mandate of Idriss Déby. Admittedly, the organization recognizes that this is not on the same level as under its predecessor Hissène Habré (an implacable repression which made tens of thousands of deaths in the 1980s) but it notes that President Déby, who is carrying out his fifth mandate, did not keep its initial commitments in terms of respect for human rights. She notes that Idriss Déby "silences the voices of those who speak out against the government and its policies", through continued legal, administrative and police harassment against his opponents. Since 2016, 65 events were banned by the authorities and are denied any legal existence to several opposition platforms.
The , it promulgates the Chadian Constitution of 2018 , adopted onby Parliament. The same day, he announced an amnesty for the rebels, and called on political exiles to return to Chad. For Djimet Arabi , Minister of Justice , “when we talk about amnesty, it is a law that erases all the offenses that have been committed, and it does so retroactively. Even those who embezzled money, those who killed, those who looted. Once there is this amnesty law, it erases all the infractions and they can go home quietly ”.
The , it forms a new government of 22 members, including 9 women.
President Déby and his relatives have considerable advances: Panama Papers indicate that the "clan" in power embezzled 10.76 billion dollars to place them in tax havens . On the contrary, the very low investments in public services (schools, health centers, etc.) keep the vast majority of the population in great poverty. Chad is ranked 186 of out of 189 on the Human Development Index of the United Nations . In 2018 , the Chadian state is on the verge of bankruptcy and Déby reacts by reducing the salaries of civil servants by a third.
In August 2020, Idriss Déby was appointed Marshal by the National Assembly after a victorious offensive in April against jihadists.
Re-election of 2021 and death
In , the Patriotic Salvation Movement invests Idriss Déby as a candidate for the presidential election of. Déby was re-elected president with 79.32% of the vote, after having "dismissed, legally or by violence and intimidation, the tenors of a divided opposition" , writes Le Monde.
On the very day of the presidential election, FACT rebels launched an offensive from Libya in north-western Chad. The Chadian army then responded with a counter-offensive and violent fighting broke out in the vicinity of the town of Mao , in the Kanem region. Idriss Déby went to the front, but he was fatally wounded between the 17th and the . He succumbs on , at 1 a.m. , in N'Djamena. A military council headed by one of his sons, Mahamat Idriss Déby , commander of the presidential guard, is responsible for replacing him. A national mourning of fourteen days is decreed, a curfew is established and all land and air borders are closed.
Chairperson of the African Union
The Idriss Deby was elected president of the African Union at the opening ceremony of the 26th summit, succeeding the Zimbabwean Robert Mugabe . He is chosen by the presidents of the Central Africa region . Its mandate is one year. During his acceptance speech, he notably mentioned the establishment of “an African force that would make it possible to intervene in crisis prevention”. He also criticizes the inaction of the organization: “We meet often, we always talk too much, we write a lot, but we do not act enough, and, sometimes, not at all. We don't anticipate enough, we expect everything.
Start O, Idriss Déby goes to the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the aim being to achieve dialogue for the holding of presidential elections in the country. He then calls on the components of the opposition to join the dialogue. In a press release, he finally announces that a date has been found for the holding of presidential and legislative elections.
End O, Idriss Déby Itno goes to Cameroon to express his compassion for the victims of the Eseka train rail disaster. He said on this occasion: “relations between Cameroon and Chad are very special. We have strong ties and a common destiny. When I heard the sad news, I first sent a message to the Cameroonian people. Then, I felt that sending a message was not enough and I came ”.
Start N, on the sidelines of the COP 22 , Idriss Déby goes to Marrakech at the request of the King of Morocco Mohamed VI to discuss with him the reintegration of Morocco into the African Union. As a reminder, Morocco left the African Union in after the latter decided to integrate the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as 51st member. A fervent supporter of a united continent, Idriss Déby militates for “an Africa without conflict by 2020”.
However, the question is still being dealt with at the end of 2016 . For someone close to the Pan-African organization, "it is not the return of Morocco that poses a problem - because it can easily gather the simple majority necessary to validate its return - but the battle it intends to wage within the UA with the aim of expelling the SADR which greatly disturbs countries which have won over to the Saharawi cause ”.
Fight against Boko Haram
One of his first priorities as AU Presidency is to accelerate the fight against Boko Haram . The, the African Union thus validates the addition of 10,000 troops to the Joint Multinational Force (FMM) created onin N'Djaména. In August, the European Union pledged to pay an additional 50 million euros to help the FMM fight Boko Haram in the Sahel.
Funding
In , Idriss Déby had a new funding method for the African Union adopted “almost unanimously” according to Donald Kaberuka which put an end to external funding and enabled the Union to ensure its independence through the levy of a import tax. Idriss Déby defines this measure as a “historic” turning point: “we are making bold decisions for the future of our continent. While awaiting the operationalization of this new AU financing mechanism, we must put an end to our frustrating and compromising dependence on our budget ”.
Decorations
Grand Cross with Necklace of the National Order of Chad , as Grand Master of the Order.- Grand Cross of the National Order of the Central African Republic.
Grand Cross of the National Order of Benin.- Grand Cross of the International Order of Academic Palms of CAMES.
- Doctor honoris causa from the University of Abomey-Calavi.
- Doctor honoris causa of the International Institute of Engineering of Water and Environment.
- Doctor honoris causa from the University of Karabük.
- African Media Prize for Peace and Leadership (PMAPL).
- Marshal of Chad.
Family of Idriss Deby
Mahamat Idriss Déby , appointed second in command of the Chadian Armed Forces in intervention in Mali (FATIM) in 2013;Idriss Déby has several children from different marriages, as is the custom among the Zaghawa :
- Brahim Déby (from his first marriage to Hadja Halimé), who had been a time his counselor, is assassinatedin France, at Courbevoie. According to the French police, his assassination was not politically motivated;
- Zakaria Idriss Déby Itno, Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet to the Presidency in 2013, Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and Army Colonel;
- Adam Idriss Déby, Chief of Staff of the General Directorate for the Security of State Institutions (DGSSIE) in 2012;
- Fatimé Idriss Déby, commercial director of the Société des Hydrocarbures du Tchad (SHT) then deputy director of the N'Djamena Refining Company (SRN) in 2020;
- Seïd Idriss Déby, Deputy Director General of the SRN then Director General of the SHT from December 2018 to March 2020.
His wives were ː
- in 2005 , he married Hinda Mahamat Abderahim Acyl, who would have acquired French nationality in 2017 , his fourth wife after Zina Wazina or Hadja Halime Déby. This marriage could have made it possible in particular, at the time of the rebel offensives, to convince the Hinda tribe, originally from Ouaddaï , a populated border region of Sudan , not to join them;
- the , he marries Amani Moussa Hilal, daughter of Moussa Hilal , a famous Janjaweed militia leader;
- other wives ː Anda Ali Bouye, Souad Zakaria Abdallah, Haoua Toldjei Tchou, Acheick Oumar.
He has several siblings:
- a younger brother, Saleh Déby Itno, who was at the head of the very strategic direction of customs and indirect rights until 2015
