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 Africaportal  Politicsportal |
Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 8 April 2005. The incumbent President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, was re-elected to a second six-year term in an unopposed election.
Hassan Gouled Aptidon was president of Djibouti from independence in 1977 until he stepped down in 1999. He had reintroduced multi-party democracy in 1992 under international pressure, [1] but the 1999 presidential election saw Aptidon's nephew, Ismail Omar Guelleh, elected with 74% of the vote. [2] The last parliamentary elections in 2003 saw Guelleh's political party, the Union for a Presidential Majority win all 65 seats in an election the opposition claimed saw significant rigging. [1] [3]
The main opposition parties in Djibouti did not put up a candidate in the presidential election and called on their supporters to boycott the election. [1] The only opposition candidate who had said they would stand in the election was Mohamed Daoud Chehem. However, on the 10 March 2005 he withdrew from the election as he said that he did not have enough money to take part in the election. [4] A statement from one opposition party on the 18 March said that "change through the ballot box is almost impossible in the Republic of Djibouti". [1]
Despite having no opponents President Guelleh campaigned strongly in the run up to the election. He held rallies in the evenings and pledged to reduce poverty, increase women's rights and improve the transparency of the government. He also accused the opposition of being afraid to stand against him and said that he regretted having no opponent in the election. [5] [6]
On the day of the election itself there was a protest against the election which was broken up by the police firing tear gas. [5] The official news agency of Djibouti reported that there was a high turnout of over 70% of voters in the election, however members of the opposition said that this was incorrect. [7]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ismaïl Omar Guelleh | People's Rally for Progress | 144,433 | 100.00 | |
| Total | 144,433 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 144,433 | 96.85 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 4,692 | 3.15 | ||
| Total votes | 149,125 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 208,098 | 71.66 | ||
| Source: African Elections Database | ||||
Guelleh was sworn in as President for a second term on 9 May 2005 and pledged to increase economic development in Djibouti. [8]
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.
Dileita Mohamed Dileita is a Djiboutian politician who was the prime minister of Djibouti from 7 March 2001 to 1 April 2013. He was vice-president of the People's Rally for Progress (RPP), the governing political party, until 2012. He also served as president of the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), the governing coalition. In June 2014, Dileita was appointed as the African Union's Special Envoy for Libya.
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 National Democratic Party is a political party in Djibouti. It was founded as an opposition party in 1992 by Aden Robleh Awaleh, who remains the party's president. It was part of the ruling coalition in 2005, but has since rejoined the opposition against President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.
Hassan Gouled Aptidon was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.
Barkat Gourad Hamadou was the Prime Minister of Djibouti from 2 October 1978 until 7 March 2001.
National-level elections in Djibouti are held for the President and the unicameral National Assembly.
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 Social Democratic People's Party is a centre-left, social democratic political party, in Djibouti, founded in 2002 and led by Moumin Bahdon Farah. It is part of the governing coalition, the Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP).
Parliamentary elections were held in Djibouti on 10 January 2003 to elect the National Assembly of Djibouti. The ruling coalition of President Ismail Omar Guelleh won all 65 seats in the election, defeating an opposition coalition.
Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 9 April 1999. Following the retirement of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had served as President since independence in 1977, his nephew Ismail Omar Guelleh won the nomination of the ruling People's Rally for Progress. His only opponent was Ahmed-Idriss Moussa who ran as an independent, with the support of the National Democratic Party-Democratic Renewal Party coalition. The result was victory for Guelleh, who won 74% of the vote.
Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 8 April 2011. Incumbent president Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected with 81% of the vote, He defeating Mohamed Warsama Ragueh, an attorney and former judge who received 19% of the vote.
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Ahmed-Idriss Moussa is a Djiboutian politician who served in the French National Assembly from 1962-1967. An independent, he was the main opposition candidate in the 1999 presidential election against President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.
The issue of human rights in Djibouti, a small country situated within the Horn of Africa, is a matter of concern for several human rights organizations.
The following lists events that happened in 2005 in Djibouti.
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Mohamed Warsama Ragueh is a Djiboutian lawyer and former judge. He was the president of the Constitutional Council and a candidate in the 2011 presidential election. He could only secure 19% of the vote losing to Ismail Omar Guelleh who won 80% of the votes. Djibouti's opposition coalitions boycotted the election, saying it would not be free and fair, leaving only President Guelleh and Ragueh, who had served as President of Djibouti's Constitutional Council in 2005. Ragueh complained about irregularities in the voting.
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