At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Djibouti

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Mohamed Dileita DILEITA
• Assembly: Djibouti has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) with 65 seats.

* In April 2010 the National Assembly unanimously approved an amendment to the constitution allowing GUELLEH to stand for a third term and reduced the presidential term from six to five years.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) 65 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** There are 6 multi-member constituencies, with anywhere from 4 to 37 seats. This system is also known as a block vote system, which artificially inflates majorities.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Ismail Omar GUELLEH*
  • Party: People's Rally for Progress / Rassemblement populaire pour le Progrès (RPP)
• Mohammed WARSAMA
  • Party: Independent
     

* The RPP is the dominant member of the Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP), The UMP coalition is made of up four parties, the second largest being the Front pour la restauration de l’unité et de la démocratie (FRUD).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 841,802 (2011)
• Registered Voters: 152,000 (April 2010 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 419,217 (2011)

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Djibouti ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (2 December 1998)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 9 (following the 2008 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 168 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Djibouti ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (18 June 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 126,270 (est.)