The results were contested by his main rival, Prime Minister Succès Masra.
ADVERTISEMENTChad’s military leader, Mahamat Deby Itno, was declared the winner of this week's presidential election, according to provisional results released Thursday.
The national agency that manages Chad’s election released results of Monday's vote weeks earlier than planned. The figures showed Deby Itno won with just over 61 per cent of the vote, with the runner-up Masra falling far behind with over 18.5 per cent of the vote. Gunfire erupted in the capital following the announcement, though it was unclear if it was celebratory.
Chad held its long-delayed presidential election following three years of military rule, a vote that analysts widely expected the incumbent to win. Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021.
A career soldier, Deby junior had promised to hold elections within 18 months, but his government postponed the poll and allowed him to run for president.
Chad's junta was the first of a string of countries in West and Central Africa which have experienced coups in the past four years to stage an election.
But some opposition parties have cried foul over vote-rigging concerns.
Hours ahead of Thursday’s announcement, Masra published a speech on Facebook accusing the authorities of planning to manipulate the outcome.
The results poll was originally due to be announced on 21 May, but the release of provisional figures was expedited after the opposition said it planned to disclose their own compiled figures.
The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people has not had a free and fair transfer of power since independence in 1960, after decades of French colonial rule.
Chad is seen as one of the West’s last remaining stable allies following a wave of military coups in the Sahel region.