Age limit removal officially paves the way for Djibouti president to run for sixth term

Djibouti's parliament removed the age limit for presidents with a unanimous vote on Sunday, its speaker told AFP, opening the way for President Ismail Omar Guelleh to run for a sixth term.

Guelleh, 77, has been in power since 1999 in the Horn of Africa nation, a major port that hosts military bases for the United States, France, China, Japan and Italy.

Djibouti's lawmakers unanimously approved the change to the constitution to remove a bar on running for president past the age of 75.

The move allows Guelleh to run in the next election in April 2026.

Change necessary to ensure 'stability of country'

"The National Assembly ratified the removal of the age limit today, so it is official," Parliament Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita said.

Parliament had already passed the motion a week earlier in an initial vote that was then approved by President Guelleh and sent back to lawmakers for the final vote.

Dileita earlier told AFP the constitutional change was necessary to ensure "the stability of the country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa, with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea."

Guelleh won the last election in 2021 with 97% of the vote while his party, the Union for the Presidential Majority, holds the majority of parliamentary seats.

Strategic location

He succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the father of Djibouti's independence, in 1999 after serving as his chief of staff for 22 years.

Djibouti has around one million people but lies on the strategic trade route of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea.