Djibouti - April 2026
Guelleh wins sixth presidential term amid opposition boycott
On 10 April, Djibouti held a presidential election in which incumbent Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, won a sixth term with 97.8 per cent of the vote. His sole challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar of the Unified Democratic Centre party (Centre démocratique unifié, CDU), received 2.2 per cent. No women contested the election. Turnout was 80.4 per cent, among an electorate of about 256,000 in a country of roughly 1.1 million. Guelleh, aged 78, became eligible to stand again after the National Assembly removed the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates in October 2025. The two main opposition parties, the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development (Mouvement pour le renouveau démocratique et le développement, MRD) and the Republican Alliance for Democracy (Alliance républicaine pour la démocratie, ARD), have boycotted elections since 2016. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) observer mission described the vote as peaceful and orderly but noted limited political competition and called for greater inclusivity and institutional independence in future elections.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Africa Confidential, IFES, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, IGAD, Africa News, International IDEA
