Djibouti Parliament Lifts Presidential Age Cap, Clearing Path for Guelleh’s Sixth Term

Ismail Omar Guelleh got a major reprieve when the Djibouti parliament voted to scrap the presidential age limit, giving the 77-year-old leader a chance to run for a sixth term in the April 2026 elections.

The Djiboutian leader has been in power since 1999 and would likely continue to lead the country with limited freedoms but with huge interest from external partners, including France, China, and the US.

The French, who colonised Djibouti, still have a massive influence in terms of policy formulation, politics, and social-economic development, while the US chose the country to be the host of the US Africa Command, its military base in the Horn of Africa.

Djibouti's constitution says the head of state cannot run for office after 75, which prevented Guelleh, 77, from running in the next election in April 2026. However, the amendment to remove the age limit was supported by 65 MPs, Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita told France's AFP agency.

Guelleh can choose to approve the resolution or call for a plebiscite. If approved, parliament will confirm the decision with a second vote, expected on 2 November. Guelleh left the door open to another five-year term in an interview this May with The Africa Report.

"All I can tell you is that I love my country too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure and be the cause of divisions," he said. This vote is "not a surprise," said Sonia le Gouriellec, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Catholic University of Lille.

"There are protests on social media, but I fear that the opposition will not have the space to express itself in Djibouti," she said.

Dileita told AFP the constitutional change was necessary to ensure "the stability of the small country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa, with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea".

"I think more than 80 percent of the population supports this," he said. His party, the Union for the Presidential Majority, holds the majority of parliamentary seats.

Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the father of Djibouti's independence, in 1999 after serving as his chief of staff for 22 years. The country has a poor record of human rights, with freedoms extremely limited.

GAROWE ONLINE