The National Assembly

The National Assembly makes legislation. The body consists of 155 members elected for four-year terms who meet three times per year. The Assembly holds regular sessions twice a year, starting in March and October, and can hold special sessions when called by the prime minister. Deputies elect a National Assembly president every two years. The president must sign or reject newly passed laws within 15 days. The National Assembly must approve the prime minister's plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch's programme twice in one year, the president may disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. In practice, the president exercises considerable influence over the National Assembly through his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), which holds a large majority.[27]

Until the legalisation of opposition parties in 1992, Déby's MPS was the sole legal party in Chad.[27] Since, 78 registered political parties have become active.[33] In 2005, opposition parties and human rights organisations supported the boycott of the constitutional referendum that allowed Déby to stand for re-election for a third term[34] amid reports of widespread irregularities in voter registration and government censorship of independent media outlets during the campaign.[35] Correspondents judged the 2006 presidential elections a mere formality, as the opposition deemed the polls a farce and boycotted.[36]

Déby faces armed opposition from groups who are deeply divided by leadership clashes but united in their intention to overthrow him.[37] These forces stormed the capital on April 13, 2006, but were ultimately repelled. Chad's greatest foreign influence is France, which maintains 1,000 troops in the country. Déby relies on the French to help repel the rebels, and France gives the Chadian army logistical and intelligence support for fear of a complete collapse of regional stability.[38] Nevertheless, Franco-Chadian relations were soured by the granting of oil drilling rights to the American Exxon company in 1999

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