Governance system in Djibouti – World Countries for Kids

Djibouti is a republic ruled by an authoritative president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, who has been in office for last 25 years since 1999. There is no term limits for post of president. While Djibouti officially has a multiparty political system, the ruling Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP) employs authoritarian means to maintain its position of dominance. The opposition’s capability to operate is severely constrained, and activistsand journalists who air criticism of Guelleh or the UMP are often harassed or arrested.

Electoral Process

The president, who enjoys most executive power, serves five-year terms but term limits are not in place. According to the Interior Ministry, President Ismail Omar Guelleh was elected to a fifth term in April 2021 with 97 percent of the vote. Of the approximately 215,000 citizens registered to vote, more than 80 percent voted, as per the African Union (AU) observation mission. The AU monitors also reported that the polls were held competently, though the main opposition parties shunned the contest, making allegations that the election administration would be neither free nor fair.

Constitutional changes in 2010 called for the creation of an upper house but Djibouti still has a unicameral National Assembly. Direct elections are held to elect 65 members of the unicameral National Assembly for five-year terms.

Parliamentary elections held in February 2023 were boycotted by opposition parties apart from Djiboutian Union for Democracy and Justice (UDJ). The boycotting parties regarded the election “not free, not transparent, and not democratic,” and made allegations that the ruling coalition would rig the polls in its favor. The ruling UMP eventually took 58 out of the 65 seats, while the UDJ took the remaining 7.

Most of the opposition had also boycotted legislative elections held in 2018, citing the government’s failure to abide by a 2014 political agreement that provided for electoral reform. The 2018 polls were afflicted by irregularities, and the ruling UMP extended its majority to 57 of 65 seats. The opposition UDF–Djiboutian Democratic Party (PDD) won mere seven seats, and the Center of Unified Democrats (CDU) took one.

In 2022, regional and communal elections were conducted by authorities that the UMP won while facing virtually no competition; the only area where other lists contended was Ali Sabieh. Opposition parties were either restrained in their activities or simply boycotted the polls, which they did not identify as free or fair.

2014 political agreement

A fundamental element of the 2014 political agreement—meant to end the opposition’s boycott of the legislature subsequent to deeply flawed elections held in 2013—was a pledge to transform the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), which the opposition has accused of bias.