Djibouti president wins election with 97.8 pecent of vote

Nairobi. Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh has won re-election with 97.8 percent of the vote, ‌state-owned Radio Television Djibouti said on Saturday, handing him a sixth term that extends his 27-year rule over the small but strategically located East African country.

Guelleh posted an image of himself with ​the French word "RÉÉLU" on X, which translates to "re-elected".

The country of less than ​1 million people sits on the Gulf of Aden at the entrance ⁠to the Red Sea and hosts U.S., Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese military ​bases. Since 2023, several commercial ships damaged in attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants have docked in the ​country.

Victory for the 78-year-old Guelleh, who was handpicked in 1999 to succeed his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon and whose party dominates national institutions, was never in doubt.

Last October, parliament voted to remove ​the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates and also scrapped a referendum previously required ​to approve a new constitution.

Two main opposition parties boycotted election

In Friday's vote, Guelleh faced a lone ‌opposition ⁠candidate, Mohamed Farah Samatar, from a small party with no representation in parliament.

Two of the main opposition parties have boycotted elections since 2016, accusing election authorities of lacking impartiality.

Data from state-owned media showed that there was voter turnout of 80.4 percent. In the last ​election in 2021, ​Guelleh won with over 97% ⁠of the vote.

In contrast to several other Horn of Africa nations, Djibouti has been relatively stable in recent years, and Guelleh's ​government has invested heavily in port infrastructure to become the ​main gateway ⁠to landlocked Ethiopia.

But human rights groups accuse the Djiboutian authorities of repressing political opponents, activists and journalists. The government has denied allegations of widespread abuses and rejected criticism of the ⁠electoral ​process.

In 2020, security forces quelled rare anti-government street protests, which erupted after the arrest of a former air force pilot who had denounced alleged corruption and ​clan-based discrimination.