Overview
- Djibouti heads to the polls Friday with President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh widely expected to extend his 27-year rule after lawmakers removed a 75-year age limit last year.
- The ballot features one challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar of the small Unified Democratic Centre, while major opposition parties have stayed out and a leading rights activist called the contest a masquerade.
- Election authorities accredited observer teams from the African Union, IGAD, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, with local reports citing about 67 observers in total.
- The country sits on the Bab al-Mandeb strait and hosts U.S., Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese bases, and its ports serve landlocked Ethiopia as the main gateway for trade.
- About 243,471 people are registered to vote, according to IFES, as many young Djiboutians face high unemployment and the state carries heavy debts tied in part to China-backed projects.