Djiboutian presidential election, 2016

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Djiboutian presidential election, 2016

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←  2011 8 April 2016 (2016-04-08)
191,103 Eligible Voters

  Ismail Omar Guelleh 2010.jpg No image.png
Nominee Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Omar Elmi Khaireh
Party RPP USN
Popular vote111,3899,385
Percentage87.07%7.34%
President before election

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
RPP

Elected President

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
RPP

Djibouti
Coat of arms of Djibouti.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Djibouti
Constitution

Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 8 April 2016. [1] Incumbent President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was re-elected for a fourth term, receiving 87% of the vote in the first round. [2]

Djibouti Country in Africa

Djibouti is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east. Djibouti occupies a total area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh President of Djibouti

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the current President of Djibouti, in office since 1999. He is often referred to in the region by his initials, IOG.

Contents

Electoral system

The President of Djibouti was elected using the two-round system. [3] After a modification of the constitution in 2010, six year terms were shortened to five year terms and term limits were abolished. [4]

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

Candidates

Guelleh, president since 1999, ran for his fourth term in office and was considered likely to win against his six opponents. The Union for the Presidential Majority believed that Guelleh would win a landslide victory and prevent a second round run-off. [4]

The Union for the Presidential Majority is the ruling political coalition in Djibouti. The coalition supports the Presidency of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.

The Union for National Salvation (USN), a coalition of seven opposition parties, claimed the election lacked transparency. [5] Three of the seven parties decided to boycott the elections, whilst two others fielded their own candidates, with Mohamed Daoud Chehem and Omar Elmi Khaireh running against each other. [4]

The Union for National Salvation is a political coalition in Djibouti.

Three independent candidates also ran: Djama Abdourahman Djama, Mohamed Moussa Ali and Hassan Idriss Ahmed. [6]

Conduct

Expulsion of journalists

A team of BBC journalists who had conducted an interview with the Djibouti Foreign Minister and an opposition candidate were detained by the police. The journalists claimed they had proper paperwork to work in the country but were deported after being questioned for eight hours. [7] The BBC has yet to obtain an official statement from the government of Djibouti. [8] Djibouti ranks 170 out of 180 in the Press Freedom Index. [9]

BBC News BBC department responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs

BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service maintains 50 foreign news bureaus with more than 250 correspondents around the world. Fran Unsworth has been Director of News and Current Affairs since January 2018.

Press Freedom Index Reporters Without Borders assessment of countries press freedom

The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom. Reporters Without Borders is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and does not measure the quality of journalism nor does it look at human rights violations in general.

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ismail Omar Guelleh People's Rally for Progress 111,38987.07
Omar Elmi Khaireh Union for National Salvation 9,3857.34
Mohamed Daoud Chehem Union for National Salvation 2,3401.83
Mohamed Moussa AliIndependent1,9461.52
Hassan Idriss AhmedIndependent1,7701.38
Djama Abdourahman DjamaIndependent1,1030.86
Invalid/blank votes3,845–
Total131,778100
Registered voters/turnout191,10368.96
Source: Présidence de la République de Djibouti

Related Research Articles

Politics of Djibouti

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.

Dileita Mohamed Dileita Prime Minister of Djibouti

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 Ismail Omar Guelleh and is in a coalition government with Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) and other parties.

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.

Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy political party

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 President of Djibouti

Hassan Gouled Aptidon was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.

Elections in Djibouti

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.^

2008 Djiboutian parliamentary election

A parliamentary election was held in Djibouti on 8 February 2008. There were 65 candidates running for the 65 seats in the National Assembly, with all of the candidates coming from the ruling coalition, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP). The opposition boycotted the election, and the UMP won all 65 seats.

2005 Djiboutian presidential election

The 2005 Djiboutian presidential election took place on the 8 April 2005. The incumbent President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, was re-elected to a second six-year term in an unopposed election.

2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election

The 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election took place 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.

2011 Djiboutian presidential election

Voters in Djibouti re-elected President Ismail Omar Guelleh by an 80% margin in that nation's April 8, 2011 presidential election. He defeated Mohamed Warsama Ragueh, an attorney and former judge who took 19% of the vote.

2011 Djiboutian protests protest

The 2011 Djiboutian protests were widespread demonstrations and riots that took place between January and March 2011 in Djibouti, situated in the Horn of Africa. A member of the Arab League, the protests in Djibouti showed a clear influence from the concurrent Arab Spring protests in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. The demonstrations ended after mass arrests and the barring of international observers.

Ahmed-Idriss Moussa is a politician from Djibouti 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 following lists events that happened in 2005 in Djibouti.

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. cast 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.

Freedom of the press in Djibouti is not specifically mentioned by the country's constitution. However, Article 15 of the Constitution of Djibouti] does mention an individual's right to express their opinion "...by word, pen, or image..." and notes that "these rights may be limited by prescriptions in the law and in respect for the honour of others."

Kadra Mahamoud Haid is a Djiboutian politician, political advisor, and First Lady of Djibouti since 1999. She is the wife of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and operates in practice as his Vice-President.

The First Lady of Djibouti is the spouse of the President of Djibouti. The present first lady is Kadra Mahamoud Haid, wife of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. Guelleh assumed office on 8 May 1999.

References

  1. ↑ Global elections calendar NDI
  2. ↑ Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh wins fourth term BBC News, 9 April 2016
  3. ↑ Djibouti IFES
  4. 1 2 3 "Djibouti Presidential Election 2016: Guide To Candidates, Key Issues, Rules And Results". International Business Times. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  5. ↑ "Djibouti's Guelleh seeks fourth term, opposition candidates doubt integrity of vote". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  6. ↑ "Liste des Canditats". CENI. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  7. ↑ "Djibouti expels BBC reporters ahead of presidential vote". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  8. ↑ "Djibouti expels BBC journalists ahead of tomorrow's elections". Eagle Online. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  9. ↑ "2015 World Press Freedom Index". Reporters without Borders. Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
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