Djibouti’s ‘Unstoppable’ President: Guelleh Poised for Sixth Term as Parliament Lifts Age Limit

DJIBOUTI - With a unanimous vote on Sunday, the Djibouti parliament removed the presidential age limit, paving the way for President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh to run for a sixth term amid growing opposition from local politicians. 

At 77, Ismail Omar Guelleh is now assured of another term, having been in charge of the Horn of Africa nation since 1999. The country is strategically located within the region since it hosts military teams from the US, China, France, and Japan.

Djibouti's lawmakers unanimously approved the change to the constitution to remove a bar on running for president past the age of 75, the Addis Standard reports. Guelleh will now run for elections scheduled for April 2026.

"The National Assembly ratified the removal of the age limit today, so it is official," said parliament speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita.

The country's leadership has often been questioned for limiting freedoms, with the human rights record also believed to be poor. There is little freedom of the press, thus locking the world from making follow-ups on what takes place in Djibouti.

Parliament had already passed the motion a week earlier in an initial vote that was then approved by Guelleh and sent back to lawmakers for the final vote. Dileita earlier told AFP the constitutional change was necessary to ensure "the stability of the small country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa, with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea".

In 2021, Guelleh won the elections 2021 by a margin of 97 percent while his party, the Union for the Presidential Majority, holds the majority of parliamentary seats.

He succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the father of Djibouti's independence, in 1999 after serving as his chief of staff for 22 years. Djibouti has only around one million inhabitants, but it lies on the strategic trade route of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea.

GAROWE ONLINE