2005 Djiboutian presidential election

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.

Background

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]

Campaign

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]

Results

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

Aftermath

Guelleh was sworn in as President for a second term on 9 May 2005 and pledged to increase economic development in Djibouti.[8]

References

1. "DJIBOUTI: No challengers for Guelleh as presidential campaign kicks off". IRIN. 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
2. "Elections in Djibouti". African Elections Database. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
3. "Djibouti's Leader Wins Uncontested Vote". The New York Times. 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
4. "Clear run for Djibouti's leader". BBC Online. 2005-03-10. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
5. "Djibouti leader wins one-man poll". BBC Online. 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
6. "Violence Mars Voting in Djibouti". ArabNews. 2005-04-09. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
7. "Djibouti incumbent wins one-man poll". afrol. 2005-04-12. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
8. "DJIBOUTI: Guelleh sworn in for second presidential term". IRIN. 2005-05-09. Retrieved 2009-02-20.