JUST IN: Chad PM hands in resignation to newly-elected junta chief

Succes Masra, the Chadian Prime Minister, said he had handed in his resignation just over two weeks after his defeat to junta chief Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno in presidential elections.

Masra said on his Facebook page in a message authenticated by his team to AFP on Wednesday, said, “I’ve just submitted my resignation and that of the transition government, which became irrelevant with the end of the presidential election.”

He, however, said the move was by the constitution.

Deby, 40, was announced as transitional president in April 2021 by a junta of 15 generals after Deby Itno Idriss, his father, iron-fisted president, had been shot dead by rebels after 30 years in power.

He won the May 6, 2024 presidential poll with 61 percent of the ballot, according to final results.

Masra, also aged 40 and once the strongest Deby opponent before becoming prime minister four months ago, won 18.5 percent of the vote but contested the results.

He claimed triumphantly in the ballot, which his party called a “masquerade” and which international rights groups had said would be neither credible nor fair.