Idriss Déby

Idriss Déby Itno (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021 during the Northern Chad offensive. His term of office of more than 30 years makes him Chad's longest-serving president.

Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ranking commander of President Hissène Habré's military during the 1980s, Déby played important roles in the Toyota War which led to Chad's victory during the Libyan-Chadian conflict. He was later purged by Habré after being suspected of plotting a coup, and was forced into exile in Libya. He took power by leading a coup d'état against Habré in December 1990. Despite introducing a multi-party system in 1992 after several decades of one-party rule under his predecessors, throughout his presidency, his Patriotic Salvation Movement was the dominant party. Déby won presidential elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021.

During the Second Congo War, Déby briefly ordered military intervention on the side of the Congolese government but soon withdrew when his forces were accused of looting and human rights abuses. In the early 2000s, oil was discovered in Chad, and Déby made petroleum production the driving force of the country's economy. He survived various rebellions and coup attempts against his own rule, including a rebellion led by his former defense minister Youssouf Togoïmi from 1998 to 2002 as well as a civil war from 2005–2010 provoked by the refugee crisis of the War in Darfur in neighboring Sudan.

Several international media sources have described Déby as authoritarian. During his three decades in office, Chad experienced democratic backsliding and widespread corruption, including cronyism, embezzlement and a deeply entrenched patronage system. In 2016, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) was established with the goal of overthrowing Déby's government. In April 2021, FACT initiated the Northern Chad offensive; Déby was injured on 19 April while commanding troops on the frontline fighting the militants and died the following day.