Mahamat Deby Itno, son of late president Idris Deby, leads the transitional government
N’DJAMENA, May 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The military junta that took power in Chad last month after the shock death of veteran leader Idriss Deby Itno has named a transition government, the army spokesman said.
Deby’s 37-year-old son Mahamat, who took the helm of the so-called Transitional Military Council (CMT), named a government comprising 40 ministers and deputy ministers and created a new national reconciliation ministry, the spokesman said in a televised statement.
The new ministry is to be headed by Acheick Ibn Oumar, a former rebel chief who became a diplomatic adviser to the presidency in 2019.
While the main opposition leader, Saleh Kebzabo, was not named to the transition government, another opposition figure, Mahamat Ahmat Alhabo, will be justice minister, junta spokesman Azem Bermandoa Agouna announced.
Opposition parties have scorned a pledge by the junta to restore democracy in Chad within 18 months.
Earlier Sunday, the junta announced the lifting of an overnight curfew introduced after Deby’s death.
The army said Deby died from wounds sustained in fighting with rebel forces in the north of the poor Sahel country last month.
Tensions are high in the country, with the military saying that six people were killed last week during demonstrations in the capital N’Djamena and the south against the formation of the junta.
A local aid group has put the death toll at nine. More than 650 people were arrested during the protests, which had been banned by the authorities.
The military has said that Deby died during fighting with rebels from the Libya-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), who had launched an Election Day offensive on April 11.
The announcement of Deby’s death came only a day after he was proclaimed winner of the presidential election, handing him a sixth term in office after three decades of iron-fisted rule in the former French colony. — NNN-AGENCIES