Djibouti City (Somalia Today) — Djibouti’s parliament voted unanimously on Sunday to remove the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates.
The move clears a constitutional hurdle for President Ismail Omar Guelleh, 77, to seek a sixth term in 2026.
All 65 parliamentarians present backed the amendment, National Assembly Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita told AFP. The vote comes ahead of the next scheduled election in April 2026.
Djibouti, a nation of 1.1 million, is strategically located on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint for global trade. This allows it to host US, Chinese, and French military bases, according to the World Bank.Â
A 2010 constitutional amendment previously removed presidential term limits but imposed the 75-year age cap.
Speaker Dileita defended the vote as necessary for national security. He told AFP the change was needed to ensure “the stability of the small country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa.” The region includes Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
“I think more than 80 percent of the population supports this,” Dileita said. The president’s party, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), holds the majority of seats in parliament, ensuring the bill’s passage.
Guelleh, often known as IOG, had left the door open to another five-year term in a May 2025 interview 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.
‘Coup d’état’
The result was “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.
The state has a poor record on freedom of expression and the press. The plan to amend the constitution had already drawn sharp condemnation ahead of the vote.
Alexis Mohamed, a prominent former senior advisor to the president, issued a scathing public letter. He called the plan a “coup d’état in preparation.”
In the letter addressed to Speaker Dileita, Mohamed warned of a “historic political decline” and urged him not to participate.
“I also urge you not to compromise yourself in what history will remember as an exception whose stench will resonate for decades,” Mohamed wrote.
He called on the speaker to “remain loyal to the one and only Republic, and not to a man” and reject what he termed the “final heist of the century.”
Government officials did not immediately respond to a Somalia Today email seeking comment on the bill’s contents or Mohamed’s accusations.
Dual political maneuvers
The constitutional change is not yet final. The president must now choose to either approve the decision or call a national referendum.
If he approves it, parliament will hold a second and final vote to confirm the decision on November 2, according to people familiar with the process.
The vote is part of a two-pronged political maneuver by the ruling establishment. Days after the final parliamentary vote, the ruling Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès (RPP) will convene its own extraordinary congress on November 8.
President Guelleh, who serves as the RPP’s chairman, is expected to preside over the meeting. Observers view the congress as a crucial step toward consolidating party strategy and formally nominating Guelleh as the candidate for the 2026 election.
Guelleh was last re-elected in April 2021 with more than 97 percent of the vote. However, Major opposition parties boycotted that election, alleging a lack of political pluralism.
Guelleh succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999. His 25-year tenure has provided stability, making Djibouti a key partner for global powers.
The country hosts the only permanent US military base in Africa, Camp Lemonnier, with some 4,000 soldiers. It also hosts bases for China, Japan, and Italy.
