Chad’s National Assembly has announced plans to revise the country’s 2023 Constitution, less than two years after its adoption.
At the opening of the Assembly’s second ordinary session, President Ali Kolotou Tchaïmi said Article 77, which restricts the president from holding any other elected office, public employment, professional activity, or party leadership role, has created major interpretation challenges and legal inconsistencies.
The controversy intensified after President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was appointed leader of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), a move critics labeled unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Council, Supreme Court, members of parliament, civil society groups, and more than 100 political parties have all called for the amendment of the article.
If approved, this would mark the first technical revision of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic since its promulgation in December 2023.
The proposed change aims to clarify presidential functions and address the legal uncertainties that have hindered governance.
