Chad; PM resigns as new junta chief resumes power after winning presidential election 

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

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

The move, he added, was also in accordance with the constitution.

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

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

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

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