Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, took power after his father Idriss Deby Itno was killed fighting rebels in 2021 after ruling the country for three decades. The long-delayed May 6 election came after three years of military rule.

His main rival, Succes Masra, who contested the results earlier this month, resigned from his post as prime minister on Wednesday. Masra had been involved in protests against Deby Itno's decision to extend his time in power and fled the country in 2022. He was allowed to return last year and was appointed prime minister.

Masra, who claimed to have won the election, filed an appeal to challenge the preliminary results, which showed Deby Itno had won, but it was dismissed. The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people hasn't had a democratic transfer of power since it became independent in 1960, after decades of French colonial rule.

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In his first presidential address, Deby Itno said his government would focus on boosting Chad's agricultural and farming sectors, and investing in education, access to water and health care.

"I've heard your yearning for change, and I've understood you. Let's all play our part, individually and collectively, to bring about the change we all hope, desire and expect," he said.

Western leaders congratulated Deby Itno despite irregularities in the vote, which included Chad's decision to ban 2,900 EU-trained observers from monitoring the election.

Chad is seen by the United States and France as one of the last remaining stable allies in the vast Sahel region following military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in recent years. The ruling juntas in all three nations have expelled French forces and turned to Russia's mercenary units for security assistance instead.

"Although there were troubling shortcomings, we welcome the milestones in Chad's transition process," the U.S. State Department said last week.

The British government also said the election marked an important milestone in the return to civilian rule. "The U.K. commends the engagement of the Chadian people and welcomes the largely peaceful way in which the elections and campaign were conducted," it said in a statement.

"I've just submitted my resignation and that of the transition government, which became irrelevant with the end of the presidential election," read a post published by Masra on his social media pages.

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

Deby appointed Masra prime minister of Chad’s transitional government in January, despite him being a staunch opponent of the junta.

The Transformers Party candidate was cleared to run for president, three months before the Central African nation completed its transitional period to civilian governance under its former military leader.

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

Deby won the May 6 presidential vote with 61% of the ballot, according to results announced by Chadian electoral officials. Masra won 18.5% of the vote but contested the results, arguing electoral fraud.

While preliminary results which favored Deby were being released, Masra claimed victory in the ballot, which his party called a "masquerade." International rights groups said the polls were neither credible nor fair.

Chad’s constitutional council dismissed Masra’s electoral fraud claims and ruled that he lacked sufficient evidence.

He later acknowledged the verdict and said there were no other legal means to contest the outcome but maintained that Deby’s victory did not reflect “the will of the people.”

Source information for this article was from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

In a statement released Thursday evening, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington welcomes “the milestones in Chad’s transition process including the election and talks with insurgents.”

Miller said the U.S. urges Deby’s administration “to work with all stakeholders — especially political parties and civil society organizations — to address any concerns with this election and strengthen the inclusivity and transparency of Chad’s institutional framework for future elections."

The State Department spokesperson also noted that Chad’s elections had "troubling shortcomings."

Prior to the release of Miller’s statement, Molly Phee, the top State Department official for Africa, this week addressed a congressional hearing where she said Washington looks to hold post-election talks with Chad.

While Washington called on Deby to consider an inclusive government, some opposition figures maintain that Chad’s military leader and president-elect won the vote undemocratically.

Success Masra, an opposition candidate who came second in the polls and served as Chad’s prime minister under Deby’s military transitional government, addressed his supporters on Thursday, soon after the nation’s constitutional council finalized the elections. He maintained the polls did not reflect “the will of the people,” but asked that his supporters remain peaceful.

The former prime minister and other Chadian opposition candidates on Monday lodged an appeal with the nation’s constitutional council to challenge preliminary results released last week that favored Deby.

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Masra, the Transformers Party candidate, last week claimed victory before the announcement of preliminary results and alleged that vote rigging was being planned, allegations denied by Deby.

While declaring Deby’s victory on Thursday, the constitutional council dismissed the opposition’s allegations of electoral fraud, ruling they lacked sufficient evidence.

Speaking to VOA, Ndolembai Njesada, the vice president for Political Affairs and the Diaspora under Masra’s Transformers Party, said they “exhausted all legal” options.

Njesada said the Transformers are now prioritizing winning in Chad’s coming legislative elections.

“We believe that we are the most popular party,” he said expressing confidence that they would win.

Deby's victory marked the end of a three-year transitional period to civilian rule. It also prolonged his family’s rule, which has had a firm grip on power since his father took over in a coup in the early 1990s. His father, President Idriss Deby, was wounded and died in 2021 while observing army operations against rebel forces.

VOA's James Butty contributed to this report. Some information was sourced from Agence France-Presse.

"In view of the votes cast on the occasion of the presidential election of May 6, Mahamat Idriss Deby having obtained ... more than the absolute majority of votes cast, that it is appropriate to declare him president-elect of the republic," the council's president, Jean-Bernard Padare, said.

Thursday’s declaration, which placed Deby ahead with 61 percent of the vote, followed by second-placed candidate Succes Masra with 18.54 percent, cemented a victory for Deby, extending his family’s decades-long rule in Chad.

Masra, who has served as the prime minister of Chad’s transitional government since January, under Deby, on Monday lodged an appeal with the constitutional council to challenge the preliminary results released last week which favored Deby.

The opposition leader and Transformers Party candidate said he would give a live address on Thursday evening. Last week, Masra claimed victory before the constitutional council announced the preliminary results and alleged that vote rigging was being planned.

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Former Chadian PM calls on Constitutional Council to have recent vote annulled

Beral Mbaikoubou, the spokesperson for Chad's opposition Movement of Chad Patriots for the Republic, MPTR, echoed Masra’s rigging allegations.

In an interview with VOA before the council's proclamation, Mbaikoubou warned that Chad may descend into violence and chaos if Deby was announced the winner.

“Deby rigged elections by falsifying results sheets and intimidating civilians with his military,” Mbaikoubou said, claims that Deby has dismissed as false.

Lydie Beassemda, the only female candidate in the May 6 elections said the nation was becoming a Deby dynasty, referring to the fact that Deby seized power after his father, President Idriss Deby was killed by rebels, in 2021.

“Deby is not Chad’s democratically elected president and civilians have so far decided not to violently protest the stolen victory because they want peace,” Beassemda told the nation’s state television on Thursday.

While some opposition figures maintained that there was electoral fraud, others like Albert Pahimini Padacke, one of the candidates who challenged the preliminary results, congratulated Deby’s win.

Chad, an oil rich nation, is the first of a string of coup-hit states in West and Central Africa's Sahel region to attempt a return to constitutional rule by holding elections.

Deby's victory marked the end of a three-year transitional period to civilian rule. It also prolonged his family’s rule, which has had a firm grip on power since his father took over in a coup in the early 1990s.

At least 10 people, including children, were killed and dozens were injured by celebratory gunfire on Friday following the announcement of the preliminary results, according to Amnesty International and Chadian media.

VOA’s Moki Edwin Kindzeka contributed to this report. Some information was sourced from Reuters.

Analysts say uncertainty lies ahead in Chad where tensions remain high after the nation's elections.

Residents of the capital, N'djamena, say that since Wednesday night, there has been a massive deployment of troops on streets and in neighborhoods which are considered to be opposition strongholds.

Abdoul Koulemann, a 24 year old student at the University of N'djamena told VOA that business has been at a standstill in the capital since Chad's constitutional council announced on Wednesday night that results of the May 6 presidential elections would be proclaimed on Thursday.

The presence of heavily armed troops deployed by Chad's military government all over N'djamena scares civilians, Koulemann said, adding, streets are empty because civilians have decided to remain in their houses as tension is perceived in the city.

Last week, Chad’s Elections Management Body, ANGE, announced that Mahamat Deby had won the May 6 election with 61 percent of votes.

On Monday, several opposition candidates filed petitions with the constitutional council challenging the official results. They allege massive electoral fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes and soldiers chasing members of their parties from polling stations.

Prime Minister Succes Masra, who finished second with 18 percent, says voters were intimidated and arrested, allegations denied by Deby.

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Former Chadian PM calls on Constitutional Council to have recent vote annulled

Deby earlier this week said he is now the president of all Chadians, including candidates who did not win the May 6 polls.

The former transitional president and military general also said he is now concentrating in respecting his electoral promises, especially bringing peace back to the nation.

Opposition leaders and civil society groups have expressed surprise over the council saying it was ready to finalize the election results without ruling on their petitions.

Electoral laws give the council until May 21 to rule on the petitions, according to the opposition.

The council has already said that election-day incidents like fighting and the late arrival of ballot boxes to polling stations were not enough to influence the outcome of the vote.

Beral Mbaikoubou , the spokesperson for Chad's opposition Movement of Chad Patriots for the Republic, MPTR, told VOA that it is now evident that the Central African nation may descend into violence and chaos after the constitutional council proclaims the definitive results.

Mbaikoubou alleges that Deby rigged elections by falsifying results sheets and intimidating civilians with his military.

The results declared by ANGE and to be confirmed by Chad's constitutional council were prepared by Deby, who wants to confiscate power, the opposition spokesperson said.

Mbaikoubou called on Chadians to stay at home to avoid confrontations with the military, which he says was deployed by Deby to crack down on people protesting election results.

Lydie Beassemda, the only female who contested the polls on Thursday spoke to Chadian state TV. She said that by confiscating power, Deby is failing to show love for the country.

Chad is becoming a Deby dynasty, Beassemda said.

The Integral Democracy and Independence party led by Beassemda wants military leaders to note that Deby is not Chad's democratically elected president and civilians have so far decided not to violently protest the stolen victory because they want peace in the volatile nation, the opposition leader said.

Angry Chadians may react violently if government troops continue to provoke civilians whose victory is stolen, Beassemda said.

Central Africa's regional body, the Economic Community of Central African states, CEEAC has called on aggrieved Chadians to avoid chaos by peacefully protesting the outcome if they feel cheated.

Deby took power in April 2021 as leader of a transitional government after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled Chad for more than three decades, died fighting northern rebels.

The elections were designed to end the three years of transition to civilian rule.

Chadian opposition leaders and civil society groups say under the Deby's leadership , the nation was marked by political tensions, quoting an example of October 2022 where state security forces killed at least 50 people, injured 300 and arrested several hundred others during a pro-democracy protest.

Masra’s announcement came after dozens of activists from his party were arrested and accused of having forged documents to get illegal access to vote counts.

Through a social media post on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, the former Chadian prime minister said, "with the help of our lawyers, we have today filed a request with the Constitutional Council to reveal the truth at the ballot boxes."

Masra shared a copy of a receipt showing that documents had been filed with the council, which officials close to him said included copies of results sheets from polling stations, a table pulling together the figures and videos that allegedly show ballot stuffing and other cheating.

Sitack Yombatina, the vice president of Masra’s Transformers Party told French media outlet Agence France-Presse, AFP, that their request "is for the annulment, pure and simple, of this electoral farce."

"All the evidence is in the USB keys," attached to the request lodged with the Constitutional Council, Yombatina said.

The Transformers Party officials included video footage of voting boxes being stuffed, thefts, threats, "but most of all ballot boxes that were taken away by the soldiers to be counted elsewhere," the vice president said.

Chadian electoral officials last week declared interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby the winner of the elections with 61.3% of the vote, while Masra placed a distant second with 18.53%. However, prior to the announcement, the former prime minister had claimed victory, alleging vote rigging was being planned.

A legal source that spoke to AFP said dozens of Transformers Party activists were arrested after being accused of forgery and using false documents during the presidential elections.

The party has denounced the arrests and the "ridiculous" charges against their activists.

Ndolembai Njesada, the Transformers Party Vice President for Political Affairs and the Diaspora told VOA that 179 activists were arrested while "carrying out their constitutional duty to observe the election."

Njesada denied the forgery allegations against their supporters.

"As a citizen (of Chad) you do not need any access card to be an observer of the elections. You do not have to have a specific document to observe the voting process. So regardless of the narrative, no citizen should be arrested for watching the elections," he said, adding, "the nation's law authorizes citizens to observe."

Political tensions are running high in the Central African nation, the first of a string of coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to attempt a return to constitutional rule. Deby seized power in April 2021 when rebels killed his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby.

At least 10 people, including children, were killed and dozens were injured by celebratory gunfire on Friday following the announcement of the results, according to Amnesty International and Chadian media.

Chad's health ministry confirmed that several people were hurt during the celebration of Deby's win but asked journalists not to film or report on patients inside hospitals, a move condemned by Chad's press unions.

Masra is a former fierce critic of Deby. Although Deby appointed him prime minister four months before the presidential election, he ran against him.

The country's opposition, which has been violently repressed and its leading figures barred from standing, had in any case dismissed Masra as a stooge who was allowed to run to give the campaign a "democratic veneer."

Early in the campaign, observers predicted a massive win for Deby, 40, whose top rival was killed earlier this year.

Deby was proclaimed transitional president three years ago by his fellow generals after his father, iron-fisted president Idriss Deby Itno, had been killed by rebels after 30 years in power.

The outcome of Chad’s elections is expected to be finalized by May 23.

VOA's James Butty contributed to this report. Some information was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.