Djibouti: Ismail Guelleh re-elected for fifth term

As reported by Al-Jazeera on 10 April 2021, Djibouti"s veteran ruler Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected for a fifth term as president with more than 98%t of the vote, according to provisional results. The election was boycotted by the main opposition. Independent observers said the election went smoothly, with no reports of misconduct. Yonas Dembele, World Watch Research analyst, comments: "Ismail Guelleh has been in power since 1999 and is only the second president since Djibouti gained independence from France in 1977. Theoretically, this is his last term as a 2010 constitutional reform introduced an age limit of 75 and scrapped term limits. While critics call President Guelleh a heavy-handed dictator, others see him as a driving force both in economic development and in the country"s relative stability in a very volatile region, which has had a positive impact on the entire Horn of Africa region. Despite such successes, President Guelleh"s regime has been involved in repressing freedom of religion, press freedom, the rule of law and other fundamental rights of citizens and is likely to continue such repression. Although the lack of freedom of religion remains a challenge for the minority Christian community in the country, the regime has also ensured that Islamic militant groups have been unable to put down roots in the country."