After winning a sixth term... Who is Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh?

The Ministry announced Interior In the Republic of Djibouti, today, the official and final results of the presidential elections were announced, which resulted in the re-election of President Ismail Omar Guelleh for a sixth presidential term extending for the next five years.

This announcement confirmed that Gilles had won an overwhelming majority of 97.8% votes in an election that took place in a calm atmosphere across the country.

Results details and public participation

According to the official statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, President Guelleh won the race by a wide margin over his only rival, Mohamed Farah Samatar, the candidate of the United Democratic Center Party, who received only 2.2% of the votes.

The elections, the ninth in Djibouti’s history since its independence, saw the participation of nearly a quarter of a million registered voters, out of a total population of about 1.2 million.

Constitutional amendments and predictions of victory

Reports indicated that these results were not far from the prevailing expectations before the start of the election race, as “Gileh” was the most favored candidate from the beginning.

The president benefited from legislative amendments passed by the Djiboutian parliament last year, which abolished the age limits for presidential candidacy, thus opening the way for him to run again despite reaching the age of 78, repeating the scenario of his sweeping victory in the 2021 elections, in which he obtained a similar percentage.

Who is Ismail Omar Jelle?

Ismail Omar Guelleh is considered the most established figure in the contemporary Djiboutian political scene, having managed over the decades to make his country an indispensable international focal point.

Born in 1947, Guelleh began his political career early. He officially assumed the presidency in 1999, succeeding his uncle, the late President Hassan Guled Aptedon, who was the first president of the republic after independence.

Since then, his generation has succeeded in building a solid political base that has enabled him to win seven consecutive terms (including the new term).

Under his leadership, Djibouti transformed from a small port into one of the most strategically important regions in the world. Thanks to his vision, Djibouti exploited its unique location on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to become home to major international military bases from competing powers such as the United States, China, and France, providing the country with security protection and huge financial flows that supported the state budget and the development of port infrastructure.