Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, was expected to win a fourth term in office in an election that began on Friday, although some opposition candidates openly doubted the integrity of the vote. Guelleh, who won the last election in 2011 with almost 80 percent of the vote, has overseen Djibouti’s economic rise as it seeks to position itself as an international port. “I am confident of the final victory,” he said after casting his vote. But a leading opposition candidate said he would not accept the election result after some voters were expelled from polling stations. “It’s part of the diet of the strategy to destabilize us,” Omar Elmi Khaireh told Reuters.
Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) president Mahmoud Hersi said everything was going well after a visit to some polling stations.
He added that only delegates sent by the presidential candidates without the proper credentials were thrown out at some polling stations. The candidates can send delegates to monitor the voting process.
Full Article: Djibouti’s Guelleh seeks fourth term, opposition candidates doubt integrity of vote | Reuters.
