Djibouti: National Assembly, 23 February 2018

At stake in this election:

• 65 seats in the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil MOHAMED (since 1 April 2013)
• Assembly: Unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 65 seats

Description of electoral system:

• 52 members of the National Assembly are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by a simple majority vote. 13 are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by a proportional representation vote. Members serve 5-year terms.

Last Election:

• The last elections for the Djiboutian National Assembly occurred in 2013. The Union for a Presidential Majority coalition won 43 seats, which was the largest share.

Main candidates in the election:

• Center for United Democrats / Centre Démocrate Unifié Djiboutien
  • Leader: Omar Elmi KHAIREH
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Union for Democracy and Justice / Union Djiboutienne pour la Démocratie et la Justice
  • Leader: Ilya Ismail GUEDI Hared
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Djibouti Development Party / Djiboutien pour le Développement
  • Leader: Mohamed Daoud CHEHEM
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Front for Restoration of Unity and Democracy / Front pour la Restauration de l'Unite Democratique
  • Leader: Ali Mohamed DAOUD
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development / Mouvement pour le Renouveau Démocratique et le Développement
  • Leader: Daher Ahmed FARAH
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• National Democratic Party / Parti National Démocratique
  • Leader: Aden Robleh AWALEH
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• People’s Rally for Progress / Rassemblement populaire pour le Progrès
  • Leader: Ismail Omar GUELLEH
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• People’s Social Democratic Party / Parti Populaire Social Démocrate
  • Leader: Hasna Moumin BAHDON
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Republican Alliance for Democracy / Alliance Républicaine pour la Démocratie​
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Union for a Presidential Majority / Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle​
  • Leader: Ismail Omar GUELLEH
  • Seats won in last election: 43
• Union for National Salvation / Union Pour Le Salut National
  • Leader: Ahmed Youssouf HOUMED
  • Seats won in last election: 21

Election Notes:

The Union for Democracy and Justice and the Djibouti Development Party ran together in a coaltion. Several opposition parties did not run candidates, calling the elections biased.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 865,267
• Registered Voters: 191,103

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 426,240
• 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
• Human Development Index Position: 172
• 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: 124,249