General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, head of the military junta in power for three years, was elected President of Chad with 61% of the vote, according to the final results announced today by the Constitutional Council.

The request to annul the election presented by his prime minister and electoral opponent, Succès Masra, who had claimed victory a week ago and whose party had described the elections as a “farce”, was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Masra—one of Déby Itno's opponents, who was invited to become prime minister four months ago—came in second place with 18,54% of the vote, announced Constitutional Council President Jean-Bernard Padaré. Albert Pahimi Padacké, the former prime minister, received 16,93% of the vote in the election held on May 06.

On May 09, hours before the official provisional results were announced, Masra claimed “victory in the first round,” according to a compilation of votes cast by his activists across the country.

After the announcement of provisional results, at least nine people, including two children, were killed and 63 were injured in Ndjamena, the capital of Chad, by army fire, medical sources confirmed to the EFE news agency.

The election marks the end of a three-year military transition and the restoration of constitutional normality in the country, but many observers believe that it was all set up to keep the Déby "dynasty" in power, following the death of Mahamat's father, dictator Idriss Déby Itno, allegedly overthrown on the front line by a rebel group in April 2021.

Mahamat Déby was supported from the beginning by the army, and in April 2021 by an international community – led by France – that was quick to condemn coup plotters in other parts of Africa.