Djibouti: President, 8 April 2016

At stake in this election:

• The office of the President of Djibouti

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil MOHAMED (since 1 April 2013)
• Assembly: Djibouti has a unicameral Assemblee Nationale (National Assembly) consisting of 65 seats with members serving 5-year terms.

Description of electoral system:

• The president is directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term.

Last Election:

• Djibouti last held a presidential election on 8 April 2011. Incumbent Ismail Omar GUELLEH won the presidency with 80.63% of the vote, while Mohammed WARSAMA took 19.37%

Main candidates in the election:

• Ismail Omar GUELLEH
  • Party: People’s Rally for Progress (RPP)/Rassemblement populaire pour le Progrès (RPP)
• Omar Elmi KHAIREH
  • Party: National Salvation Union[1]/Union pour le Salut National

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 824,324 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 176,878 (2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 448,363 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

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

·         Gender Quota: Yes[2]

·         Female candidates in this election:

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 7 (10.77%)

·         Human Development Index Position: 168 (2014)

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

Disability Data:

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CRPD: N/A

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

·         Population with a disability: 124,249