However, violence and questions of vote-rigging marred the preliminary vote count, which was announced earlier than expected.
Military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby has won a much-anticipated presidential election in Chad, according to preliminary results from the National Election Management Agency.
According to figures released on Thursday, Deby secured more than 61 percent of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff with his closest rival, Prime Minister Succes Masra, who received 18.5 percent.
The victory allows Deby, the incumbent, to retain the presidency with a voter mandate.
He previously led the country as interim president, seizing power after his father, the late President Idriss Deby, was killed fighting a rebel group in the north of the country in April 2021.
But his presidential rival, Masra, has already indicated that he will not accept the election results.
On Thursday, Masra posted a live broadcast on Facebook declaring himself the winner. He also accused Deby and other government officials of manipulating the election results to stay in power.
“A small number of people believe they can make people believe that the elections were won by the same system that has ruled Chad for decades,” Masra said.
Deby’s father had led the country for more than 30 years, from 1990 to 2021, when he was shot shortly after his sixth presidential victory.
Critics accused him and now also his son, current President Deby, of suppressing the opposition in order to retain power.
They also pointed to circumstances leading up to the May 6 presidential election that could have influenced its outcome.
For example, one of the leading opposition figures, Deby’s cousin Yaya Dillo, was killed when security forces carried out a shootout at his party headquarters.
Other opposition members were banned from pointing out “irregularities” in their election campaign applications.
On Thursday, Masra called on his supporters and security forces to support his claim to the presidency and reject the election agency’s results.
“To all Chadians who voted for change, who voted for me, I say: Mobilize. Do it calmly and in a spirit of peace,” he said in his Facebook broadcast.
Thursday’s results came earlier than expected, with preliminary results originally expected on May 21.
Chad is believed to be the first military-run country in Africa’s Sahel to hold a democratic election, although there are doubts about the fairness and credibility of the vote.
Nearby countries such as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have survived coups in which military leaders have also seized control of their governments. There have been eight coups in the region since 2020 alone.
This month’s presidential election also marked the first time in the country’s history that an incumbent faced his prime minister in the election.
When he took office in 2021, Deby promised to hold “free and democratic elections” within 18 months – but his government extended the transition period until 2024, allowing Deby to remain in office in the meantime.
During this time, he led a referendum on a new constitution that allowed him to accept his candidacy for the 2024 election.
A lifelong soldier, Deby headed the powerful DGSSIE, an acronym for General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions. In this role he worked closely with the French troops.
Chad, home to almost 18 million people, was under French colonial rule until 1960 and remains the last country in the Sahel to have a French military presence with fighter jets and troops stationed there.
Following Thursday’s announcement, security forces were deployed at intersections across the capital N’Djamena in case of unrest.