Chad’s President Idriss Deby has been re-elected for a fifth term in office in a landslide first-round victory. Mr. Déby earned 61.5 percent of the votes cast on Election Day. The announcement came one day after a visit by Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, and by top American military officials that highlighted Chad’s prominence in the fight against Islamic extremist groups like Boko Haram.

Deby took power in 1990 when he headed an armed rebellion. In 2004, the president, who has enabled the once unstable nation to become an oil producer and key regional player, lifted restrictions on the the number of terms presidents can run for.

The electoral commission (CENI), on 22 April, announced Deby had won the elections with 61.57% of the votes. Although the president was re-elected in the first round, Deby fell in percentage terms – he was re-elected for a fourth term with more than 88% of votes in 2011.

In a rare appearance before foreign journalists at his presidential palace, Mr. Déby denied opposition claims that about 60 members of the security forces who had voted against him have disappeared.

Under Deby, the once unstable country has become both an oil producer and an important regional power. But despite a wealth of new oil resources since 2003, half of the population of 13 million lives below the poverty line and seven out of 10 people cannot read or write.

Did You Know?

• Chad is a landlocked country in northern Central Africa.
• It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area.
• Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.