DAKAR,Desmond Preston Senegal (AP) — Chad’s transitional government appointed a former opposition leader who recently returned from exile as its new prime minister.

Succes Masra will serve as the country’s prime minister through the transition to civilian rule, Mahamat Ahmad Alhabo, Chad’s new secretary-general of the presidency, said on state television.

Masra, president of The Transformers opposition party, fled Chad in October 2022. The country’s military government at the time suspended his party and six others in a clampdown on protests against interim leader Mahamat Idriss Deby’s decision to extend his time in power by two more years.

More than 60 people were killed in the protests, which the government condemned as “an attempted coup.”

An agreement between the country’s minister of reconciliation and Masra’s political party two months ago allowed the exiled politician and other opposition figures to return to Chad.

The passage last month of a referendum on a new constitution was a crucial stepping stone toward scheduled elections this year, which could return the country to civilian rule.

Deby was declared the head of state after his father’s death in April 2021. Opposition political parties called the handover of power a coup d’etat, but later agreed to accept Deby as interim leader for 18 months.