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Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh 'set for fourth term' | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Djibouti's incumbent President Ismail Omar Guelleh will win a fourth term in office after Friday's elections, according to official projections. | |
He "has been elected in the first round," Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed said on national TV. | |
Mr Guelleh has been in power since 1999 and has been criticised for his tight grip on power. | Mr Guelleh has been in power since 1999 and has been criticised for his tight grip on power. |
He faced five opponents in the election, but three opposition parties boycotted the poll. | |
The opposition complain of police brutality and media bias under President Guelleh's rule. | |
Djibouti's strategic position on the Gulf of Aden means that it is home to US and French military bases. | Djibouti's strategic position on the Gulf of Aden means that it is home to US and French military bases. |
The country is also seen as relatively stable in a region which includes Somalia, where the government does not control the whole country, and Yemen, where there is a civil war. | The country is also seen as relatively stable in a region which includes Somalia, where the government does not control the whole country, and Yemen, where there is a civil war. |
Some observers say that this explains the muted criticism of President Guelleh from the West. | Some observers say that this explains the muted criticism of President Guelleh from the West. |
More on this and other African news stories | More on this and other African news stories |
Djibouti election: What you need to know | Djibouti election: What you need to know |
Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy | Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy |
Polls opened at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT), on Friday, but voting got off to a slow start, the AFP news agency reports, with few of the country's 180,000 voters turning up early. | |
The electoral commission extended polling by an hour to 16:00 GMT. | The electoral commission extended polling by an hour to 16:00 GMT. |
The opposition were angry that the president rescinded his earlier decision not to seek a fourth term. | |
His main rival, representing the opposition Union for National Salvation (USN) coalition, was Omar Elmi Kaireh, a Djibouti independence hero. | |
But another candidate, Mohamed Daoud Chehem, was from a USN splinter group, highlighting the fractured nature of the opposition. | |