Parliament Lifts Presidential Age Limit
Djibouti’s parliament made a significant move on Sunday by unanimously voting to lift the presidential age limit, paving the way for Ismail Omar Guelleh to seek a sixth term.
Guelleh, often referred to as IOG, has been in power since 1999 in this small Horn of Africa nation, which is a key port and hosts military bases for the United States, France, and China.
According to Djibouti‘s constitution, the head of state is not allowed to run for office after the age of 75, which had put Guelleh, who is now 77, in a tricky position for the upcoming election in April 2026.
During a session on Sunday, all 65 parliamentarians present supported an amendment to lift the age limit, as reported by speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita to AFP.
The president now has the option to either approve this decision or put it to a referendum.
If the decision gets the green light, parliament will follow up with a second vote, which is anticipated on November 2.
In an interview with The Africa Report this past May, Guelleh hinted at the possibility of seeking another five-year term.
“All I can tell you is that I love my country too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure and be the cause of divisions,” he said.
This vote is “not a surprise,” Sonia le Gouriellec, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Catholic University of Lille, told AFP.
“There are protests on social media, but I fear that the opposition will not have the space to express itself in Djibouti,” she said.
The state has a poor record of freedom of expression and the press.
Dileita told AFP the constitutional change was necessary to ensure “the stability of the small country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa, with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.”
“I think more than 80 percent of the population supports this,” he said.
In April 2021, Guelleh was re-elected, securing over 97 percent of the votes cast.
His party, the Union for the Presidential Majority, dominates the parliamentary landscape.
Guelleh took over from Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the founding father of Djibouti’s independence, in 1999, after spending 22 years as his chief of staff.
Despite being one of the least populated countries on the continent, with around one million residents, Djibouti holds significant strategic importance in the region.
It sits across from Yemen at the entrance of the Red Sea, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial passage for a substantial portion of global trade between Asia and the West.
Parliament Lifts Presidential Age Limit
