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Territorial Council elections were held in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on 18 November 1973. The result was a victory for the "Majority" group of candidates, who were supportive of the government of Ali Aref Bourhan and mainly Afars. The other two groupings of candidates were "Moderation Opposition", who supported opposition leader Hassan Gouled Aptidon (mostly Issas and Somalis), and other opposition groups. [1] Voter turnout was 75.6%. [1]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pro-government Majority | 26,852 | 75.86 | 40 | |
Moderate Opposition | 5,332 | 15.06 | 0 | |
Other Opposition | 3,214 | 9.08 | 0 | |
Total | 35,398 | 100.00 | 40 | |
Valid votes | 35,398 | 98.76 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 443 | 1.24 | ||
Total votes | 35,841 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 47,380 | 75.65 | ||
Source: African Elections Database |
Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa bordered by Somalia to the southeast, Eritrea and the Red Sea to the north and northwest, Ethiopia to the west and south, and the Gulf of Aden to the east.
Politics of Djibouti takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the executive power is exercised by the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the National Assembly. The party system and legislature are dominated by the socialist People's Rally for Progress. In April 2010, a new constitutional amendment was approved. The President serves as both the head of state and head of government, and is directly elected for single six-year term. Government is headed by the President, who appoints the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the latter. There is also a 65-member chamber of deputies, where representatives are popularly elected for terms of five years. Administratively, the country is divided into five regions and one city, with eleven additional district subdivisions. Djibouti is also part of various international organisations, including the United Nations and Arab League.
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the current President of Djibouti. He has been in office since 1999, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa. He is often referred to by his initials, IOG.
The culture of the Republic of Djibouti is diverse, due to the nation's Red Sea location at a crossroads of trade and commerce.
The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas was the name given to present-day Djibouti between 1967 and 1977, while it was still an overseas territory of France. The area was formerly known as French Somaliland. Its name derives from the Afar people of Djibouti and the Somali Issa clan.
The People's Rally for Progress is a political party in Djibouti. It has dominated politics in the country since 1979, initially under the rule of President Hassan Gouled Aptidon. Today it is led by President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and is in a coalition government with Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) and other parties. The RPP tends to hold more influence among the Issa population.
The Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy is a political party in Djibouti. It is aligned with the interests of the Afar people who live in that country, although it has supporters residing outside of Djibouti.
Hassan Gouled Aptidon was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.
The Civic United Front is a liberal party in Tanzania. Although nationally based, most of the CUF's support comes from the Zanzibar islands of Unguja and Pemba. The party is a member of Liberal International.
Ahmed Dini Ahmed was a Djiboutian politician. He was trained as a health technician and entered the political realm at age 26.
Mohamed Daoud Chehem is a senior civil servant, noted opposition leader and former presidential candidate for the Azuria Development Party (PDD) in Djibouti. Chehem is a member of the Afar ethnic group, and was part of the Afar rebel Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) opposition movement. In 1991, in a wave of mass arrests in the midst of a civil war between FRUD and Hassan Gouled Aptidon's oppressive regime, Chehem was imprisoned and tortured. Amnesty International, in a statement, said that prisoners like Chehem "may in fact be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned because of their opposition to the government rather than because there is any evidence that they participated in anti-government violence."^ In 1997 it was widely reported that Chehem along with five other FRUD members, was abducted from Ethiopia and given over to agents of Hassan Gouled Aptidon's regime. Chehem was again subjected to torture and the political prisoners' plight became the subject of campaigns by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.^ In addition, United Nations Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Nigel S. Rodley sent an urgent request for their release to Aptidon's government.^
The Issa are a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family.
The Djiboutian Civil War was a conflict in Djibouti, lasting from 1991 to 1994 and resulting in thousands of fatalities. The uneven power sharing between the Issas and the Afars led to the Civil War that ravaged the country for three years.
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).
Moumin Bahdon Farah was a Djiboutian politician and the President of the Social Democratic People's Party (PPSD). He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1978 to 1993 and Minister of Justice from 1993 to 1996. Concurrently, he was a member of the National Assembly of Djibouti.
Ali Mohamed Daoud, also known as Jean-Marie, is a Djiboutian politician and the President of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD). He is currently a member of the National Assembly of Djibouti.
General elections were held in Ethiopia on 7 and 18 May 1995 for seats in its Council of People's Representatives; elections in the Afar, Somali, and Harari Regions were delayed until 28 June to assign experienced personnel who could solve possible conflicts and irregularities. This was the first regular multi-party election in Ethiopian history, and the first election since the adoption of a permanent constitution the previous December. Several opposition parties boycotted the election, including the All-Amhara People's Organization, Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party.
General elections were held in Ethiopia on 14 May and 31 August 2000 for seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives and several regional government councils. Although several opposition parties boycotted the election, 17 parties including the All-Amhara People's Organization, the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition (SEPDC), and the Oromo National Congress did participate.
The Democratic Union Issa (UDI) was an anti-independence political party of French Somaliland and the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas.