Chad President Deby seeks fifth term in office

Chad’s President Idriss Deby has announced he will run for a fifth term in April’s elections. Mr Deby took power in a coup in 1990 and later introduced elections. A referendum in 2005 scrapped a clause restricting presidents to two terms, but Mr Deby said that if he gets re-elected he will reinstate it. In […]

Chad’s President Idriss Deby has announced he will run for a fifth term in April’s elections. Mr Deby took power in a coup in 1990 and later introduced elections.
A referendum in 2005 scrapped a clause restricting presidents to two terms, but Mr Deby said that if he gets re-elected he will reinstate it.
In the last year, Burundi, Rwanda and the Republic of Congo have all changed their constitutions to allow their presidents to run for office again.
Mr Deby said that reinstating term limits would provide “vitality” to the democracy. “We must limit terms, we must not concentrate on a system in which a change in power becomes difficult,” he told the ruling party.
“In 2005 the constitutional reform was conducted in a context where the life of the nation was in danger,” he added.