Djibouti votes in long-term leader for sixth presidential term election news

Lawmakers last year eliminated presidential age limits, allowing incumbent Ismail Omar Guelleh to compete for another term.

Voters in Djibouti are voting to choose their next president, with outgoing leader Ismail Omar Guelleh expected to easily secure a sixth term after politicians abolished presidential age limits last year.

More than 256,000 voters are eligible to vote in Friday’s election between Guelleh, 78, and his only rival, Mohamed Farah Samtar, leader of the Unified Democratic Center (CDU), a party that holds no seats in parliament.

At City Hall, where Guélé is scheduled to vote, only a few voters arrived when the doors opened, with turnout generally low in the early hours, AFP reported. The news agency said some polling stations in the capital Djibouti city opened late.

Human rights groups have accused authorities of abuses and repression of freedom of political activity. The government has denied the allegations. The two main opposition parties have boycotted elections since 2016.

Polling stations will close at 6pm local time (15:00GMT). According to election officials, provisional results are expected on Saturday morning or soon after, the state news agency reported.

Several international organizations are observing the vote, including the African Union (AU), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States.

Guelleh has ruled the small country in the Horn of Africa since 1999, when he replaced Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the founding president of the country of about one million people.

Guelleh won re-election in 2021 with 98 percent of the vote.

‘We have maintained peace’

Although Guelleh was originally ineligible to stand in this election due to the age limit, politicians lifted the ban last year, paving the way for him to extend his 27-year rule.

“Abolishing term limits in Djibouti is less about electoral competition and more about maintaining regime continuity in a highly strategic state,” Mohamed Hussein Ghass of the Rad Peace Research Institute told the Associated Press news agency.

“While this raises concerns about democratic decline, external actors may prioritize stability given Djibouti’s important role in Red Sea security and global trade routes, especially amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” he said.

Stability was important in Guelleh’s election campaign.

“We must remember that we have managed to maintain the stability of our country in an unstable region. We have maintained peace when others have descended into chaos,” he said last month.

Djibouti hosts significant military bases for the United States, France, China, and other powers, giving it a reputation as the country with the most foreign military bases. It is also an important port hub for landlocked neighbors such as Ethiopia.

Since 2023, several commercial ships damaged in attacks by Houthi fighters in Yemen have docked there.