General Mahamat Idriss Deby, 37, Deby’s Son Named ‘President Of The Republic’ Of Chad

General Mahamat Idriss Deby, 37, will take over as president after death of his father, according to new charter.

A son of Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby Itno is to take over as president in place of his father.

This is according to a charter released on Wednesday by the presidency.

It said General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father’s death, will “occupy the functions of the President of the Republic.

The army has said “free and transparent” elections will take place after the 18-month transition period.

Mahamat Deby is best known as a top commander of the Chadian forces assisting a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the restive north of neighbouring Mali.

The slain leader, who ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years, succumbed to wounds suffered during a visit to the battlefield in the country’s north where Chadian soldiers fought against a rebel group, the military announced on Tuesday.

Calling for calm, the army also announced a 6pm curfew and shut the country’s borders, while suspending the constitution and dissolving the National Assembly.

Experts say that under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have taken power after Deby’s death and not his son.

“What the constitution says is that in the absence of the president or in case he dies, then the speaker of the parliament takes charge of the country for 40 days and so a transition is put in place until elections are held.

“[But] the military announced that the legislative assembly has been dissolved and that the constitution also has been dissolved, so what they are doing is that they replaced the constitution with their own set of rules.”