Chad parliament adopts unlimited, seven-year presidential terms
Africa
By
AFP
| Oct 03, 2025
Chad's parliament adopted on Friday a constitutional revision that extends presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable without limits.
The amendment was backed by 236 votes, with none against, out of the 257 members from both parliamentary chambers.
President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was proclaimed transitional president by army generals in 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled Chad for 30 years, was killed in a gun battle with rebels.
Deby promised an 18-month transition to democracy but extended it by two years.
After a new constitution was approved in a referendum in December 2023, Deby, 41, was elected president in May 2024 in voting that international observers said was not credible.
READ MORE
Hiring by firms hits new high on improved business conditions
Kenya's debt crisis deepens as Treasury secures fresh Sh193.8b Eurobond
Uncertainty as Rivatex fires 3000 employees
itel banks on AI-powered tech to increase market presence
Kenya Re extends MD's suspension
Explained: How telecom engineers keep you connected
Real estate developer feted for sustainable living solutions
Kenya Airways promotes sustainable aviation fuel, but can Africa go green?
Why traders selling fake goods risk 10-year jail term, Sh20m fine
Kenya firms boost own power plants as national capacity falls
The amendment adopted on Friday foresees the president being elected for a seven-year term and states that he can be re-elected.
Under the current constitution, presidential terms are for five years and renewable only once.
The new longer mandate will only take effect at the next presidential election.
Friday's vote was brought forward from its originally planned date of October 13.
Members of the opposition National Rally of Chadian Democrats-The Awakening (RNDT) walked out of the chamber shortly before the vote, an AFP journalist saw.
Former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke, of the RNDT, said in a letter addressed to lawmakers ahead of the vote that the amendment was "unconstitutional and authoritarian".