President Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismail Omar Guelleh succeeded his uncle, Hasan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999, taking the oath of office on 8 May 1999. Guelleh -- President Hassan Gouled Aptidon's chief of staff for more than 20 years, head of security, and key adviser for over 20 years -- was elected April 1999 to the presidency as the RPP candidate. He received 74% of the vote, with the other 26% going to opposition candidate Moussa Ahmed Idriss of the Unified Djiboutian Opposition (ODU). Guelleh was born in 1947 in Dire Dawa (eastern Ethiopia). He speaks Amharic, Somali, French, Arabic, and English.
For the first time since independence, no group boycotted the election. Moussa Ahmed Idriss and the ODU later challenged the results based on election "irregularities" and the assertion that "foreigners" had voted in various districts of the capital; however, international and locally based observers considered the election to be generally fair, and cited only minor technical difficulties. Guelleh took the oath of office as the second President of the Republic of Djibouti on May 8, 1999, with the support of an alliance between the RPP and the government-recognized section of the Afar-led FRUD.
Political parties (legalised in 1992) have since become more diverse: the RPP joined with FRUD to form a new ruling coalition, l'Union pour la Majorite Presidentielle (UMP). Four opposition parties formed L'Union pour l'Alternative Democratique (UAD) to contest parliamentary elections in January 2003. The UMP took 62.7% of the votes but won all 65 seats in the Chamber of Deputies due to Djibouti's unusual first-past-the-post list system. The UAD claimed extensive vote rigging and manipulation of constituency boundaries.
The government beat, harassed, and excluded opposition leaders. The government also restricted the operations of opposition parties and denied them permits to organize protests. According to Freedom House, opposition parties were also, “disadvantaged by electoral rules and the government’s abuse of the administrative apparatus.”
Presidential elections were held on 8 April 2005. Guelleh stood unopposed as the UMP candidate at the head of a five-party coalition that included the FRUD and other parties and claimed 96.85% of the vote on a 78.9% turn out. The opposition UAD failed to field a candidate and called for a boycott of the polls. They have disputed the high turn out figure. . A loose coalition of opposition parties boycotted the 2005 election.
In March 2006, Djibouti held its first regional elections and began implementing a decentralization plan. Parliamentary elections were held in February 2008. The broad pro-government coalition, including FRUD candidates, again ran unopposed when the government refused to meet opposition preconditions for participation.
Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita delivered his annual "State of the Nation" speech on general government policy during the National Assembly's formal opening session on 01 March 2009, as required by Djiboutian law. The Prime Minister's uncontroversial speech outlined GODJ accomplishments. As usual, the National Assembly's first ordinary session March 23 featured a general debate on the Prime Minister's address.
Djibouti's National Assembly - generally regarded as a relatively weak and non-controversial body - heard an unusually heated debate during its first ordinary session of 2009. FRUD President Ali Mohamed Daoud, known as "Jean Marie, the President of the second most powerful ruling coalition partner - who represents the historic, formerly armed opposition movement "Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy" (FRUD) - delivered a surprisingly pointed and critical speech. Daoud's main criticism was that Djibouti's recent economic growth was not benefiting all Djiboutians equally. He especially pointed to "development disparities between the capital and the regions."
In another unexpected move, the state-run newspaper "La Nation" covered this sharp exchange prominently. The FRUD speech underlined that while the opposition parties remaining outside the "Union for a Presidential Majority" (UMP) remain fairly impotent, there is still a vigorous give-and-take among parties within the multi-ethnic UMP, which includes the FRUD.
In 2010 parliament amended the constitution to remove term limits, facilitating the 2011 re-election of President Ismail Omar Guelleh for a third term. In April 2011, President Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected for a third term.
As of 2012, political power was shared by a Somali Issa president and an Afar prime minister, with an Afar career diplomat as Foreign Minister and other cabinet posts roughly divided. However, some Djiboutians feel that Somali Issas are likely overrepresented in the government, civil service, and ruling party. That, together with a shortage of non-government employment, has bred resentment and continued political competition between the Somali Issas and the Afars.
In February 2012 UMP candidates were defeated in municipal and regional elections by a nebulous youth-based ‘independent’ group, led by activists drawn from civil society. The UMP’s defeat was widely believed to have been engineered by the president’s office as part of a strategy to marginalize party elders.
Following electoral reforms in October 2012, the February 2013 legislative elections were the first to be run under a limited form of proportional representation. Up to 20 per cent of seats were allocated in proportion to votes cast. The opposition had boycotted previous polls, but critics, including some from the diaspora, now coalesced into the Union pour le Salut National (USN) and contested the polls. Campaigning was noisy but mostly good-natured, with both the USN and a smaller opposition faction having access to state media and making extensive use of public rallies and social media.
With only 120,000 people voting (a turnout of 68 per cent of the 176,000 registered voters) preliminary results were available the following day. Under the new 80:20 per cent proportional representation system, in Djibouti-ville, a narrow majority of 49.4 percent for the ruling UMP gave it 28 of the 35 seats allocated to the capital.
According to official results, the USN opposition coalition received 10 seats in the 65-member National Assembly. The election was the first contested parliamentary vote since 2003, but opposition parties alleged the vote was rigged and that there were incidents of ballot stuffing and double voting. In contrast with previous years, the government did not release full results by individual polling station, lending credibility to the opposition claim that the USN won the majority of votes in Djibouti City, where the majority of the country’s population is concentrated.
Police and gendarmerie were present throughout the capital and outside most polling stations to check identity cards and manage the flow of voters into the polling stations. International observers from the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League characterized the election as free and fair, an assessment that domestic and international NGOs criticized. In the months after the election, opposition leaders used both the legal system and illegal street protests to contest the election results. Opposition leaders boycotted the National Assembly and formed a shadow parliament. The government repressed opposition demonstrations, arrested hundreds of activists, and initiated legal proceedings against many opposition leaders. Throughout the year leaders and supporters continued to protest the election results.
On 16 January 2014, security forces arrested seven senior USN leaders during a celebration commemorating the first anniversary of the creation of the opposition coalition. Among those arrested were Daher Ahmed Farah, president of the Movement for Democratic Renewal (MRD); Abatte Ebo Abdou, vice president of the Movement for Development and Liberty (Model); Ahmed Youssouf Houmed, president of the Republican Alliance for Development; Ismail Guedi Hared, president of the Union for Democracy and Justice; Omar Elmi Kaireh, president of the Unified Democratic Center; and Mohamed Daoud Chechem, president of the Djiboutian Party for Development. After being held at Nagad Detention Facility, they were released later in the day without being given a reason for their detention.
The government and opposition signed on 30 December 2014 a "framework agreement on political dialogue." It aimed to end the political crisis born of protest by the opposition of the results of parliamentary elections in 2013 and the troubles that ensued. In the aftermath of Djibouti’s 2013 electoral crisis, Guelleh and the opposition Union pour le Salut National (USN) reached an agreement for reforming the electoral commission that his government had since seen fit to ignore.
Djibouti has been in a state of emergency since 30 December 2015. Djiboutian parliament approved a bill on the text of the emergency. This adoption modifies the 1955 law on state of emergency by adapting to the current environment and providing in particular the extension of house arrest for people whose behavior could be perceived as a threat to security and order public, or dissolution of radical groups. This bill established the general framework of the state of emergency. An implementing decree would be issued by the Cabinet to establish a state of emergency.
The opposition was expected to continue to mobilize in advance of the 2016 presidential election, creating the possibility of renewed civil disturbance. In the weeks preceding and during the election, there are expected to be political gatherings and potentially heightened levels of tension, particularly in Djibouti city.
On December 21, 2015 as many as 19 people were killed when security forces opened fire on a religious gathering in the capital. Witnesses said the troops targeted a crowd in the Balbala neighborhood that was commemorating the late religious leader Sheikh Yonis Muse.
The US State Department urged Djibouti's government to respect the rights of its citizens to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and association. It called on the government to engage in dialogue to prevent further violence and resume talks to ensure peaceful and transparent presidential elections in 2016. Djibouti features badly on the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, standing at 170 out of 180.
Incumbent President Ismail Guelleh sought a fourth term in the presidential election to be held on 08 April 2016, and the opposition called for a boycott of the election.Guelleh, representing the RPP, Rassemblement populaire pour le Progrès (People’s Rally for Progress), was challenged by Omar Elmi Khaireh of the USN, Union pour le Salut National (National Salvation Union). Guelleh is a figure loved as he is loathed, with a roster of ill-skilled opposition parties rallying against his re-election bid. Guelleh is seen by many as a run-of-the-mill tyrant, crushing opposition and consolidating power as he goes.
Djibouti's minister of the interior announced that President Ismail Omar Guelleh won the 08 April 2016 presidential election with nearly 87 percent of the vote. Guelleh won outright in the first round of the election, giving him another five-year term in office - his fourth consecutive term since 1999. His nearest rival was Omar Elmi Khaire of the Union for National Salvation, who got just over 7 percent of the votes.
Guelleh was sworn in for a fourth term in office May 08, 2016 in a ceremony attended by several regional heads of states and dignitaries. Guelleh took the oath of office at his presidential residence in the capital, Djibouti City. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn were among those in attendance.
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