Djibouti regime faces toughest poll challenge in decade
21 Feb 2013 09:27 - Abdourazak Ali <
http://mg.co.za/author/abdourazak-ali>
President Ismael Omar Guelleh's regime is up against its most serious threat
in a decade: a united opposition for this week's legislative elections.
The tiny country in the horn of Africa with a population of less than one
million, occupies a strategic position at the entry to the Red Sea and is
home to the biggest French and US military bases in Africa.
This is the first poll since 2003 in which opposition groups have decided to
join forces, taking part as the Union for National Safety (USN).
But President Guelleh's Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) holds all
65 seats in Parliament and he is determined that it keeps a firm grip. He
has been in power in Djibouti since 1999.
A president, "if he is to be able to carry out his programme, needs a
significant majority," said the 65-year-old leader, who boasts of
transforming Djibouti's infrastructure in his more than 13 years in charge.
Opposition groups put up a good challenge at the 2003 polls but have since
then either refused to take part in elections, alleging the conditions for a
free and fair poll were absent, or have done so independently.
Guelleh - only the second president since independence from France in 1977 -
was re-elected for a third five-year term in April 2011 after the
Constitution was revised to allow him another stint in office.
He won the election, also boycotted by opposition parties, with more than
80% of the vote, promising it would be his last term.
But his party took as a wake-up call its unexpected defeat in the January
2012 municipal elections in Djibouti city - by far the biggest of the six
constituencies - to an independent list fielded by the Rally for Development
Action and Democracy, and despite an opposition stay-away.
Legislative elections
For this week's legislative elections, various opposition parties have
overcome their differences to line up behind a common programme focusing on
human rights, developing independent media and fighting against "tribalism,
corruption and nepotism".
But common platform or not, the opposition remains disparate. Its leader is
a veteran politician aged 77, Omar Ahmed Youssouf. For Djibouti city, it is
fielding Ismail Guedi Hared (73), a former top aide to Djibouti's first
president at independence, Hassan Gouled Aptidon.
Another opponent, Daher Ahmed Farah, who recently returned from exile has
also joined forces with USN, which also reportedly has the backing of the
local chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Djibouti escaped the wave of protests that swept away governments in several
Arab countries over the past two years.
But it was rocked by a single day of anti-government protests on an
unprecedented scale on February 18 2011 that degenerated into violent
clashes that left two people dead, according to official figures.
Djibouti, an arid and extremely hot country, derives most of its revenue
from its port, from land rented out for the Western military bases as well
as from livestock and the banking sector. -
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Received on Thu Feb 21 2013 - 20:33:02 EST
