Presidential election in Djibouti: "victory of the people" for power, "masquerade" for the opposition
Ismaël Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti, reelected on April 9, 2021. AFP / PATRICK KOVARIK
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Djiboutian President Ismaël Omar Guelleh was reelected on Friday April 9 for a fifth term.
He would have obtained 98.58% of the vote, according to the first provisional official figures announced on the night of Friday to this Saturday, April 10.
In Djibouti, the first reactions were heard this Saturday morning.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Albane Thirouard
On the power side, it is time to celebrate after the voting day of Friday, April 9.
“
Thank you for your trust, thank you for Djibouti!
Let's continue together
!
", Tweeted in the night
the newly re-elected president
, Ismaël Omar Guelleh.
On Friday evening, Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed also welcomed the first results on his Facebook page.
He called the election a "
victory for the Djiboutian people
", citing a turnout that would exceed 77%.
This figure is however questioned by the opponent Abdourahman Mohamed Guelleh, of the Radde party.
According to him, the Djiboutians would have "
massively boycotted the electoral masquerade
".
On Twitter, he even welcomed this boycott, calling it a "
great victory
".
The opposition parties had decided not to participate in the presidential election, calling it a "
non-event
".
The result of the election is therefore not surprising, because the outgoing president had only one candidate before him: Zakaria Ismail Farah.
56-year-old businessman, little known in the political scene, he had only campaigned timidly, complaining that he did not benefit from a law enforcement service.
The candidate was also not seen in the polling stations on Friday.
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Djibouti
Ismail Omar Guelleh