Djibouti Opposition disillusioned after Guelleh's victory?

By Desmond Davies,GNA
Djibouti, April 12, GNA - Disillusionment reigned supreme among members of Djibouti's opposition parties after President Ismail Omar Guelleh won a fourth term of office on April 8.

Amid opposition claims of unfairness on the part of the government during the run up to the election, President Guelleh went on to garner 87 per cent of the vote for his party, the RPP, Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès (People's Rally for Progress).

The RPP also has a parliamentary alliance under the UMP, Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle (Union for a Presidential Majority).

President Guelleh's main rival, Omar Elmi Khaireh of the USN, Union pour le Salut National (National Salvation Union), won seven per cent of the votes, according to the official results.

The failure once again of the opposition to unseat President Guelleh, who has been in power since 1999, did not go down well with his opponents.

Mr Khaireh told the Somali Service of the Voice of America (VOA) that all the opposition parties were united "not to accept the results,' and that the president deceived the public.

The Independent candidate, Mohamed Muse Tourtour, said: "A national vote-stealing occurred, it is false and I will not accept it."

Another, Jama Abdirahman Djama, noted: 'I warned that the will of people not to be repressed, but the results show what I warned just happened.'

But Djibouti's Election Commissioner, Abdi Ismail Hirsi, said there were no flaws in the electoral process, telling the VOA that if the opposition parties had any objections they should refer them to the Constitutional Council.

In the run up to the election, the government locked up local journalists, and foreign reporters, including a team from the BBC, that was expelled just before the country went to polls.

Thus, the disillusionment among the opposition politicians has been so palpable that one told the GNA: 'It is a waste of time fighting elections in Djibouti when the playing field is not level.

'I might as well spend my time looking after by family and business until such time when we have a free and fair electoral system.'

This would be music to the ears of President Guelleh who has had a difficult time over the years trying to curtail the power of the country's opposition parties.

It would mean that he would have to deal with one less member of the opposition, which has not done itself any favours by being fragmented and constantly boycotting presidential and parliamentary elections.

'One solid opposition bloc against Guelleh and his ruling alliance would make a lot of difference in parliamentary and presidential elections,' one analyst in Nairobi told the GNA.

But President Guelleh said on television after his victory: "The people of Djibouti have again entrusted me with the state's highest office,'

Djibouti is strategically placed by the Indian Ocean and it hosts American and French military bases as well as facilities for the Chinese navy.

The US has strengthened its presence in Djibouti after its diplomatic mission was forced to pull out of Yemen, across the Red Sea.

President Guelleh's opponents have not been too happy with the rather muted response of the French and US governments over the lack of basic freedoms in Djibouti.

Supporters of President Guelleh have always argued that he is the best person to be in charge of the country because he would always guarantee the presence of the US and French bases.

But the Head of External Relations for the USN, Abdurrahman Borah, told the GNA: 'This argument does not hold water because any government that takes over in Djibouti will have to abide by the agreements with the US and France with regard to their bases in the country.'

Now that President Guelleh has won another five-year term, the question being asked is whether he could hold the country together politically and economically.

In the next couple of years it is expected that the Chinese, who have undertaken a number of major projects in Djibouti, will start calling in their debt totalling hundreds of billions of dollars.

GNA