Presidential elections were held in

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

on 8 April 2016. Incumbent President

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (; ; born 27 November 1947) is a Djiboutian politician who has served as the President of Djibouti since 1999, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa. He is often referred to by his initials, IOG. Guelleh wa ...

was re-elected for a fourth term, receiving 87% of the vote in the first round.

Electoral system

The President of Djibouti was elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

. After a modification of the constitution in 2010, six year terms were shortened to five year terms and term limits were abolished.

Candidates

Guelleh, president since 1999, ran for his fourth term in office and was considered likely to win against his six opponents. The Union for the Presidential Majority believed that Guelleh would win a landslide victory and prevent a second round run-off. The

Union for National Salvation Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

(USN), a coalition of seven opposition parties, claimed the election lacked transparency. Three of the seven parties decided to boycott the elections, whilst two others fielded their own candidates, with Mohamed Daoud Chehem and Omar Elmi Khaireh running against each other. Three independent candidates also ran: Djama Abdourahman Djama, Mohamed Moussa Ali and Hassan Idriss Ahmed.

Conduct

A team of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

journalists who had conducted an interview with the Djibouti Foreign Minister and an opposition candidate were detained by the police. The journalists claimed they had proper paperwork to work in the country but were deported after being questioned for eight hours. The BBC has yet to obtain an official statement from the government of Djibouti. Djibouti ranks 170 out of 180 in the

Press Freedom Index The World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) is an annual ranking of Country, countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002 based upon the non-governmental organization's own assessment of the countries' Freedom of the ...

Results

References

{{Djiboutian elections

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Presidential elections in Djibouti