In Chad, a country in Central Africa, a constitutional amendment extending the presidential term from five to seven years and removing term limits passed the parliament.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the amendment passed on the 3rd (local time) with 236 of 257 members of the upper and lower houses voting in favor. There were no votes against, and lawmakers from the opposition National Rally for Democracy and the Awakening of Chad (RNDT) walked out before the vote. The vote was moved up from the originally scheduled 13th of this month.
The amendment also includes extending the term of members of parliament from the current five years to six and creating the post of deputy prime minister. The revised presidential term provision is set to apply starting with the next presidential election.
President Mahamat Idriss Déby assumed power in Apr. 2021 as chair of the Transitional Military Council after his father, then-President Idriss Déby, was killed in a rebel attack. He then took office through a presidential election in May last year.
With Déby winning the presidency after his father's long rule since 1990, the Déby family is now in a position to hold power for at least 39 years—and 44 years or more if re-elected—and the latest constitutional change effectively makes lifelong rule possible.
Chad's presidential election was the first civilian transition vote among African countries where the military has been in power since 2020. However, critics say it amounted to "civilian rule in name only," with form but no substantive change.