File Photo/Somali Times
Ismail Omar Guelleh, is well-known to Djiboutians. He has, after all, been in power since May 1999, the year he succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, for whom he was in charge of national security and intelligence gathering, also according to sources Somali spy agency NISA senior commander told Somali Times Ismail Omar Guelleh and his wife Kadra Mahamoud Haid both former worker of France’s intelligence agency DGSI.
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Djibouti dictator Ismail Omar Guelleh elected himself sixth term as president five-year term in a runoff election, with results announced on Saturday after a vote boycotted by most of the opposition, securing more than 97.81% of the vote, official interior ministry data showed on Saturday.
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Ismail Omar Guelleh’s 44-year reign by literally re-electing himself for a fifth consecutive term. In this event, it cannot be reasonably referred to as an ‘election’
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Ismail Omar Guelleh had no opponent other than his wife Kadra Mahamoud Haid and two sons in-law from the Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Friday’s vote was contested by a single candidate, Mohamed Farah Samatar. Interior ministry data showed he came in second with 2.19% of the 168,233 votes cast.
Guelleh won the last election in 2021, boycotted by most of the opposition, securing more than 97% of the vote.
He had announced he would step down this year, but a constitutional amendment in November removed the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates.
Critics have called the vote uncontested, while supporters argue that the 78-year-old leader Horn of Africa country.
Prominent politician Dahir Ahmed told the Somali Times they were boycotting the Djibouti election because they believed it would undermine the democratic process and the legitimacy of the election results.
Dictator Ismail Omar Guelleh has campaigned for stability amid regional tensions, particularly those linked to the Middle East conflict, while Samatar has focused on economic and education reforms.
Guelleh has been in power since 1999 and is the country’s second president since independence from France in 1977.