At stake in this election:

• 65 seats in the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed DILEITA
• Assembly: Djibouti has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) with 65 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale), 52 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 13 members are elected by proportional representation.***

*** The election law was changed in November 2012 to allow for a mixed list electoral system, with 20 percent of the seats being awarded proportionally. Previously the party that received the most votes in each district received all of the district’s seats

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Coalition: Union for a Presidential Majority / Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP)*
  • Leader: Ismail Omar GUELLEH
  • Seats won in last election: 65
• Coalition: Union for National Salvation / Union pour le Salut National (USN)**
  • Leader: Ahmed Youssouf HOUMED
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Centre for Unified Democrats / Le Centre des Démocrates Unifiés (CDU)
  • Leader: Omar Elmi KHAIREH
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

* The UMP is a pro-government coalition comprising the People’s Rally for Progress (RPP), the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), the Union of Reform Partisans (UPR), the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and the National Democratic Party (PND).
** Opposition political parties formed this electoral bloc to contest the 2013 election, as the opposition did not participate in the 2008 election. The Union for National Salvation is comprised of the Republican Alliance for Development (ARD), Union for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), the Movement for Renovated Democracy and Development (MRD), National Democratic Party (PND), the Djiboutian Party for Development (PDD), and the Movement for the Development and Liberty (MoDel).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 864,554 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 176,878 (February 2013 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 430,547 (2013)

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Djibouti ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (2 December 1998)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 7 (following the 2013 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 168 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Djibouti a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Djibouti ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (18 June 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 129,683 (est.)