Presidential elections were held in

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti 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 ...

on 8 April 2005. The incumbent

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ismail Omar Guelleh Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

, was re-elected to a second six-year

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

in an unopposed election.

Background

Hassan Gouled Aptidon Hassan Gouled Aptidon ( so, Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon; ar, حسن جوليد أبتيدون) (October 15, 1916 – November 21, 2006) was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999. Biography He was born in the small village of Gerisa in t ...

was president of Djibouti from independence in 1977 until he stepped down in 1999. He had reintroduced multi-party democracy in 1992 under international pressure, but the 1999 presidential election saw Aptidon's nephew, Ismail Omar Guelleh, elected with 74% of the vote. The last parliamentary elections in 2003 saw Guelleh's political party, the

Union for a Presidential Majority The Union for the Presidential Majority (french: Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle UMP) is the ruling political coalition in Djibouti. The coalition supports the Presidency of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. The coalition originally formed to conte ...

win all 65 seats in an election the opposition claimed saw significant

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

Campaign

The main opposition parties in Djibouti did not put up a candidate in the presidential election and called on their supporters to boycott the election. The only opposition candidate who had said they would stand in the election was

Mohamed Daoud Chehem Mohamed Daoud Chehem is a senior civil servant, noted opposition leader and former presidential candidate for the Azuria Development Party (PDD) in Djibouti. Chehem is a member of the Afar ethnic group, and was part of the Afar rebel Front for the ...

. However, on the 10 March 2005 he withdrew from the election as he said that he did not have enough money to take part in the election. A statement from one opposition party on the 18 March said that "change through the ballot box is almost impossible in the Republic of Djibouti". Despite having no opponents President Guelleh campaigned strongly in the run up to the election. He held rallies in the evenings and pledged to reduce

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

, increase

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and improve the transparency of the government. He also accused the opposition of being afraid to stand against him and said that he regretted having no opponent in the election. On the day of the election itself there was a protest against the election which was broken up by the police firing

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

. The official

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...

of Djibouti reported that there was a high turnout of over 70% of voters in the election, however members of the opposition said that this was incorrect.

Results

Aftermath

Guelleh was sworn in as President for a second term on 9 May 2005 and pledged to increase

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

in Djibouti.

References

{{Djiboutian elections Presidential elections in Djibouti

Single-candidate elections 2005 in Djibouti April 2005 events in Africa