(4 minutes read)
· Djibouti veteran ruler Ismail Guelleh will be president for another term, with final results showing 97% of votes cast in his favor
· A few days ago, www.trendsnafrica.com reported that his win was a foregone conclusion. Important opposition parties boycotted the election and an unknown candidate, small time businessmen was only left in the fray
· Though the winning margin is the highest since he took over as the country’s first president in 1999, only 215,000 Djiboutian registered to vote in Friday’s election out of a total population of 990,000 people
Djibouti veteran ruler Ismail Guelleh will be president for another term, with final results showing 97% of votes cast in his favor. A few days ago, www.trendsnafrica.com reported that his win was a foregone conclusion. Important opposition parties boycotted the election and an unknown candidate, small time businessmen was only left in the fray.
Though the winning margin is the highest since he took over as the country’s first president in 1999, only 215,000 Djiboutian registered to vote in Friday’s election out of a total population of 990,000 people.
His challenger, little-known businessman Zakaria Ismaïl Farah won just 2% of the vote. It may be noted that Guelleh could provide a stable government and a number of people are appreciative of that achievement, while other countries in the region including neighboring Somalia and Yemen are facing political instability. Also, Ethiopia had undergone a traumatic phase recently marked by violence, killings and fleeing of people to various nearby countries.
The East African country has taken advantage of its geographical position and has invested heavily in ports and logistics infrastructure. Ismail Guelleh, has ruled the country with an iron fist, leading to crack down on dissent and press freedom. Over 20 percent of people live below the poverty line. That is the challenge being faced by the country. While the re-elected president’s supporters were telling that in his next term there would be more focus on development works, the opposition leaders claim that achievements that were listed had more rhetoric than real changes made on the ground.
