The political party Les Transformateurs, once characterized by its vibrant online presence, weekly rallies, and frequent meetings, now faces an uncertain future. Its charismatic leader, Succès Masra, who briefly served as Prime Minister from January to May 2024, has been incarcerated for over a year, leaving a significant void.
In May 2025, Succès Masra, then 41, was apprehended, tried, and found guilty of “spreading hateful and xenophobic messages” and “complicity in murder.” These charges stemmed from intercommunal clashes between farmers and herders that occurred days earlier in Mandakao, a southern Tchadien locality. Authorities reported approximately forty fatalities in these recurring confrontations. The opposition figure was accused of disseminating an audio message urging specific communities to arm themselves for self-defense. This audio, however, was later revealed to have originated in 2023. For these offenses, Masra received a twenty-year prison sentence and a fine of 1 billion francs CFA (approximately 1,500,000 euros). He had previously emphasized that “the life of no Tchadien should be trivialized.” This conviction was upheld on appeal on May 21, rendering him permanently ineligible for public office under electoral law.
Deprived of its influential leader, the trajectory of Les Transformateurs appears compromised. Established in 2018, the party quickly ascended to become one of Tchad’s most prominent political forces. Masra, a renowned orator, successfully captivated a youth yearning for a leader embodying renewal and weary of a stagnant traditional political class. This establishment, perceived as incapable of offering a genuine alternative to the Déby family (first Idriss Déby Itno, and now his son Mahamat), has governed the nation since the coup d’état on December 1, 1990. A political analyst and observer of Tchadien politics, Yamingué Betinbaye, noted that “a large portion” of the youth, “frustrated by exclusions, saw in Succès Masra a new personality who could rectify the various vulnerabilities” they faced.
A presidential runner-up, then a boycott too far
Following the tragic events of October 20, 2022, when demonstrations called by Les Transformateurs against the extended transition were violently suppressed, Succès Masra was forced into exile in the United States for over a year. Upon his return, facilitated by a mediation led by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi under the auspices of the African Union, he agreed to serve as Prime Minister during Phase II of the transition. This transitional period had commenced in 2021 after the death of Idriss Déby Itno during an attack by rebels from the Front for Alternation and Concord in Tchad. In this capacity, Masra became a key architect of the May 2024 presidential election. On January 7 of that year, he publicly praised the establishment of the National Agency for Election Management (ANGE), the institution tasked with organizing polls, replacing the National Independent Electoral Commission (Céni). Yet, months later, he disputed the election results, in which his party secured second place with 18.54% of the vote.
Against the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), the party founded by Idriss Déby, no political formation had achieved a better score than Les Transformateurs in 2024. Since 1996, the year of the first election after the coup against Hissène Habré, the opposition’s highest score was Ngarlejy Yorongar’s 16.35% in 2001.
Not reappointed to the premiership after the presidential election, Masra subsequently refused to participate in the legislative and municipal elections, which were intended to conclude the transition period. “With over 18% in the presidential election, Les Transformateurs were guaranteed to secure the largest representation (18 to 24 deputies) in the National Assembly,” estimated Yamingué Betinbaye. The opposition party would have emerged as the country’s second political force.
By boycotting the polls, Succès Masra inadvertently deprived his party of institutional standing and the legitimacy conferred by the ballot box. Yamingué Betinbaye explained that after “approaching power, Succès Masra realized his political calculation had failed.” Consequently, he sought to “take strong actions, including boycotting the legislative, senatorial, and communal elections, to demonstrate his return to the opposition.”
Shifting stances and internal dissent
Since then, the MPS has governed with an overwhelming majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate. This situation is unlikely to change before 2031, the year of the next presidential election, as the constitutional revision of 2025 extended presidential and legislative terms from five to seven years and four to six years, respectively.
The narrative could have ended there. However, on January 28, 2025, during a live broadcast on a popular social media platform, the leader of Les Transformateurs declared his acceptance “to work with the President of the Republic for the stability and development of [the] country.” He also expressed his readiness “to collaborate with Marshal Mahamat Idriss Déby, to contribute, with everyone, the added value of [his] political force to this republican endeavor in service of the Tchadien people.”
Succès Masra’s oscillating political decisions – contesting the transition’s extension before accepting the Prime Minister’s post, participating in the presidential election only to boycott the legislative polls – have caused considerable irritation within his own party. Academics, artists, political officials, young graduates, and ordinary citizens had swelled the ranks of Les Transformateurs, a party that nurtured many young talents. Throughout its eight years of “struggle” (as Masra termed it), some militants paid a heavy price, enduring imprisonment or even losing their lives. However, many have since sought other paths, sometimes enticed by the allure of power. Succès Masra now struggles to retain some of his senior figures, including close collaborators and party co-founders.
Moustapha Masri, a co-founder and vice-president, resigned days after the October 20, 2022, events. He subsequently launched his own political formation before being appointed Deputy Civilian Chief of Staff to the Presidency of the Republic in January 2024. By April, he was promoted to Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency. More than three years after his departure from Les Transformateurs, Moustapha Masri has become a central figure within the government and a close aide to the Head of State. His party, Paix et Cohésion Sociale, established in 2023, even fielded a candidate in the partial legislative elections held on June 21 following the passing of a deputy.
A wave of resignations
Another resignation that garnered significant attention was that of Sitack Yombatina Béni. An academic, doctor of law, and lecturer at the University of N’Djamena, he was a member of Masra’s inner circle. On August 12, 2025, he announced via a social media message, “with full conscience, lucidity, freedom [and] independence,” his decision to step down as vice-president of Les Transformateurs and resign from the party. This announcement came shortly after Masra’s trial verdict and his appointment of Hoinathy Moh Ndomal Claudia as interim president.
While Sitack Yombatina officially presented his departure as a personal decision, many observers saw a probable link to this appointment. This development was even discussed in the highest echelons of the state. Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, notably commented, “When one feels useless and scorned, the only option is to leave.” Following a cabinet reshuffle on April 1, Yombatina was appointed Minister of Higher Education in Prime Minister Allamaye Halina’s third government.
Mahamat Assouyouti, a close associate of Masra who had held the Economy portfolio during Masra’s time as Prime Minister, was appointed Director General of the state-owned Chad Petroleum Company on May 11. Finally, Les Transformateurs suffered a major loss with the passing of Rays’Kim, civil name Djasrabé Kimassoum Yilmian. An engaged artist and early militant, he served as the party spokesperson and a fervent supporter of Masra until his death from illness on October 6, 2025. His absence represents an immense blow to the party.
Les Transformateurs are undoubtedly looking towards the next electoral cycle, the general elections of 2031. However, the ruling power might require any party wishing to contest national elections to demonstrate having at least one elected official. Such a provision exists in other nations; in Cameroun, Maurice Kamto and his party were prevented from participating in the last presidential election after boycotting previous polls, thus lacking elective representation.
Just another micro-party?
Deprived of their leader, would Les Transformateurs agree to present another candidate? While a presidential pardon has been mentioned multiple times, only an amnesty could enable Succès Masra to participate. This scenario echoes the 2021 episode when the then 39-year-old opposition figure declined to field a substitute candidate, as he did not meet the age requirement of 40 (now 35) to run for the highest office.
Between legal constraints, political calculations, and potential revisions of electoral rules, the equation remains complex for Les Transformateurs. Their ability to remain a viable force in the next electoral cycle will hinge as much on the evolution of the institutional framework as on their capacity to adapt their strategy. All this unfolds within a context of democratic tightening and a political environment dominated by a party that, by 2031, will have accumulated four decades in power.
Despite the initial challenges and the current difficulties facing his party, Succès Masra has undeniably etched the name of Les Transformateurs into Tchad’s political history. Amidst the contradictions attributed to their president, the government’s maneuvers to further diminish their influence, and successive defections, will Les Transformateurs manage to reclaim their position as the leading opposition party? Or will they be relegated to the sidelines, much like the hundreds of micro-parties that already populate the Tchadien political scene?
