Djibouti lifts presidential age restrict, paving means for sixth Guelleh time period | Elections Information

Ismail Omar Guelleh may search re-election in 2026 after parliament votes to take away age restriction for presidential candidates.

Djibouti’s parliament has eliminated the constitutional age ceiling for presidential candidates, opening the door for Ismail Omar Guelleh to hunt a sixth time period regardless of being 77 years previous.

All 65 lawmakers current voted on Sunday to eradicate the age restriction of 75 years, a transfer that may permit the veteran chief to contest elections scheduled for April 2026. The choice requires both presidential approval adopted by a second parliamentary vote on November 2, or a nationwide referendum.

Guelleh, identified broadly as IOG, has ruled the Horn of Africa nation since 1999, when he succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the nation’s founding president.

The constitutional barrier was launched by Guelleh himself in 2010 alongside reforms that scrapped presidential time period limits, however lowered every time period from six to 5 years.

Nationwide Meeting Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita defended the change as important for sustaining stability in a turbulent area. He stated public assist exceeded 80 p.c for the measure, although Al Jazeera isn’t capable of confirm this declare.

Earlier this yr, in an interview with the Jeune Afrique journal, Guelleh gave an vital indication that he had no plans to relinquish energy. “All I can let you know is that I really like my nation an excessive amount of to embark on an irresponsible journey and be the reason for divisions,” he stated.

Rights advocates condemned the transfer as a step towards everlasting rule. “This revision prepares a presidency for all times,” stated Omar Ali Ewado, who heads the Djiboutian League for Human Rights, calling as a substitute for a peaceable democratic transition.

Daher Ahmed Farah, a pacesetter within the Motion for Democratic Renewal and Improvement, advised Al Jazeera that worldwide companions ought to rethink their priorities. “The nation is in a strategic place and hosts many bases, however these pursuits lie with the Djiboutian individuals, not with a single man,” he stated.

Guelleh gained his fifth time period in 2021 with greater than 98 p.c of votes after opposition teams boycotted the election. On the time, the USA welcomed the outcome however inspired the federal government “to additional strengthen its democratic establishments and processes in step with suggestions from the observer missions”.

Guelleh is East Africa’s third-longest-serving chief behind Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, in energy for practically 4 many years, and Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki, with a tenure reaching 27 years.

Regardless of its small inhabitants of 1 million, Djibouti wields outsized geopolitical affect. The nation hosts the one everlasting US navy base in Africa, alongside installations operated by France, China, Japan and Italy. Its place overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait makes it important for world delivery between Asia and Europe.

That strategic worth has saved Djibouti steady whereas neighbouring states face mounting crises, together with Sudan’s civil struggle and Somalia’s fragmentation.