Djibouti president biography report
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This reinforces a model in which formal rules adapt to political needs rather than constrain them. Dans ce rôle, il s’évertuera surtout à œuvrer en faveur de la réalisation d’une mobilisation massive autour de notre Indépendance. Guelleh was the only candidate on the ballot, and not surprisingly took 100 percent of the vote.
He ran on campaign promises to reduce poverty and increase women's rights and roles in the country, but the UAD called for a boycott of the election, and FRUD subsequently issued a statement of support for the boycott. First elected to office in 1999, Guelleh rules over a nation troubled by longstanding ethnic hostilities between his own people, the Issa, and the minority Afar group.
Guelleh took on an increasing list of duties for his uncle, who was 81 years old when he won reelection again in 1997, as the president's health declined. For many international partners, the stability of the Djibouti government has been viewed as a source of predictability in a volatile region.
Djibouti has also developed its position as a strategic hub.
The prospect of a post-Guelleh era has, in recent years, encouraged various individuals to seek to increase their influence. It was known as the French Territory of Afars and the Issas until it gained formal independence in 1977. Le candidat du RPP remporte le scrutin présidentiel avec plus de 74% des suffrages exprimés devant son adversaire de l’opposition, Moussa Ahmed Idriss.
Le 1er mars 2000, le nouveau Président de la République succède au Président Goueld à la tête du RPP en raison de sa riche expérience, sa défense acharnée des intérêts du pays, son sens de l’humilité, de la tolérance et de son souci constant de servir l’Etat.
Les premières années passées à la tête de la Magistrature suprême sont marquées entre autres, outre la mise en œuvre des vastes programmes de réformes, par :
-L’instauration de la paix intérieure enfin scellée avec la signature, le 12 mai 2001, des accords de paix définitive avec le Frud armé de M.
Ahmed Dini Ahmed.
-L’adoption d’une législation visant à rendre obligatoire la scolarité jusqu’à l’âge de 16 ans et la création de la première université de Djibouti.
-Le lancement de vastes projets à caractère économique dont une série moderne d’infrastructures portuaires et de zones franches d’éclatement et de transbordement.
-L’engagement ferme et déterminé de notre pays par la voie de son Président en faveur de la paix et de la réconciliation en Somalie, lequel engagement a été unanimement salué par la Communauté internationale.
-L’entrée, le 4 septembre 2002, de la République de Djibouti dans l’ère du multipartisme intégral, avec l’achèvement de la période décennale prévue par la constitution de 1992 pour la limitation à quatre du nombre des partis politiques.
The presence of multiple foreign military bases, alongside port and logistics facilities, has generated significant state revenue.
Born in 1947, Guelleh originally hails from Dire-Dawa, a city in Ethiopia.
Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, March 24, 2003; January 24, 2005; March 24, 2005. Before him are Ezana of Axum (325), Lij Iyasu of Ethiopia (1895), Onuphrius (320), Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (1506), Abiy Ahmed (1976), and Gebre Mesqel Lalibela (1200).
Members of his family's Mamassans clan hold positions of power in the cabinet and government, the RPP remains the dominant political force, and there have been charges that opposition groups, such as FRUD and the Union of Democratic Alliance (UAD), are unable to operate freely.
These changes enabled Guelleh to stand for re-election and reduced presidential terms from six to five years.
The November 2025 parliamentary vote to abolish the presidential age limit followed this pattern. Guelleh was reelected to another six-year term in that contest, but he was the sole candidate in the election. It’s mirrored even more closely in the de facto state of Somaliland due to clan and family ties.
The changes enable him to remain in power beyond 2026.