The fifth mandate of the President of the Republic, Ismaël Omar Guelleh, is now signed. According to the provisional results of the electoral commission, the man who runs this country of the Horn of Africa mainly francophone and Arabic-speaking, for twenty-two years will run for a last mandate at the head of Djibouti. Widely re-elected with 98.58% of the vote, Ismaël Omar Guelleh, aged 73 years, had almost no opponent because his only dolphin, the businessman Zakaria Ismail Farah, did not even beat campaign.
“President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh obtained 167,535 votes, or 98.58% (…) These are the provisional results of the presidential election of April 9, 2021”, it is the announcement made at about 3:15 in the night of Friday 09 to Saturday 10 April 2021 by Moumin Ahmed Cheick, the Minister of the Interior, on public television RTD.
The newly elected president Ismaël Omar Guelleh has addressed to the thousands of Djiboutiennes and Djiboutiens who have according to “exercised their civic duty in serenity” and who have chosen to renew their confidence in him by voting majority for the continuity of his action.
However, despite the high turnout, 77% against 68% in 2016, the opponent, Zakaria Ismail Farah, could not exceed the 5,000 votes out of the 990,000 Djiboutian citizens called to the polls, or just 1.2% of the validly cast vote. The official and final results of this presidential election will be communicated by the Constitutional Council. Zakaria Ismail Farah, was outraged by the voting process and the notorious discrimination in the treatment of candidates. He was not able to benefit from police elements to ensure his safety and he had to cancel his campaign because, according to him, everything is in place for the president to keep his chair. “It doesn’t help my vote, nor the votes of 80% of the Djiboutian people.”, he regrets.
It should be noted that in 2016, during the previous presidential election, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was elected with a majority of 87% of the vote, again in the first round. This new election, the last according to the Constitution, the constitutional revision carried out in 2010 now limits the age of presidential candidates to 75 years. He must now work to revive the economy of the country heavily affected by Covid-19. According to 2017 data from the World Bank, the population of Djibouti is 21.1% affected by poverty even if a growth of +7% is to be expected this year 2021.
