Chad's Prime Minister Padacke resigns

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Chad's Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke resigned on Tuesday to allow the formation of a new government, the presidency announced in a statement issued a day after military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was sworn in as transition president.

Padacke was appointed transition prime minister last year after Deby, also known as Mahamat Kaka, seized power following the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who died in April last year on the frontline fighting against Chad's Libya-based rebels.

He had been in power for 30 years.

Deby had promised to hand over power to an elected government after 18 months, but that deadline has not been met.

The military has extended the transition period to elections by two years, despite the fact that it was supposed to hand over power in October.

Deby was inaugurated as the nation’s transition president on Monday, who, on the occasion, promised to “name a new government of national unity.”

Padacke handed over his resignation to Deby and “wished him good luck in the leadership of the country during the second phase of the transition,” the statement said.

Padacke previously served as prime minister from 2016 to 2018 under former president Idriss Deby.