History of Djibouti, Political Governance

By Joshua Hamilton

History of Djibouti Political Governance. An information Book. Ethnicity as a major springboard of identity politics has significantly affected the Republic of Djibouti since 1960s as Colonial rule, the Cold War and regional politics contributed to widen the rift of ethnic cleavage between Afar and Issa. The mobilization of Afars, the minority one, in the early 1990s faced with a heavy handed repression of the Issa dominated government which makes even the power sharing peace negotiation of 1993 less satisfactory. The power sharing scheme of the government was considered as a political contrivance of coopting Afar political figures for dumping the just claim of Afars which is so deep, and the conflict went on. This had exerted pressure on the government to make constitutional concessions of recognizing the plurality of Djibouti. However, from the perspective of accommodation an ethnic demand which has sustained for long, the constitutional and political adjustments are less adequate

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781365710414

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History of Djibouti, Political Governance

History of Djibouti, Political Governance

Environmental Study

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Author

Joshua Hamilton

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First Printing: 2017

ISBN: 978-1-365-71041-4

Printed in the United States of America

Publisher by Victoria General Printing, LTD.

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Djibouti.

Djibouti Politics

Djibouti gained independence in 1977. On 8 May 1977, the people of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas overwhelmingly voted for independence through a national referendum. On 27 June 1977, the Republic of Djibouti became an independent state. The constitution split power between the Issas and Afars; Hassan Gouled Aptidon was elected president and Ahmed Dini became prime minister.

The pronounced official tilt in Djibouti's proclaimed neutrality in favor of Somalia during all the months of the war was one of the root causes of the ethnic violence which all but shattered Djibouti's fragile political and governmental institutions in the final months of 1977. The Somalis in Djibouti's population, from the President on down, could not understand why anyone would oppose the efforts of the Somalis in the Ogaden to secure freedom from the Ethiopians. The Afars, on the other hand, saw any effort which increases Somali influence in djibouti, including the welcome given the large numbers of ethnic Somali refugees from the rail line in Djibouti, as a direct threat to their continued existence as an ethnic group.

At independence, the government opted to keep one official political party in order to prevent disintegration along tribal affiliations. The RPP was born in March 1979 and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who was President of the Republic at that time, was elected its first President. Since its inception, one clan -- the Issas -- have completely dominated the RPP. In reaction, the second largest ethnic group -- the Afars -- formed their own political party, the &Front pour la Restauration de l,Unit8 (FRUD). The political climate became so tense that it culminated in civil war from 1991 to 1994.

assan Gouled Aptidon (an Issa-Somali) remained in charge from the time of independence in 1977 until he opted to step down in 1999. He established a one party state dominated by the Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progres (RPP).

In early 1992, the government decided to permit multiple party politics and agreed to the registration of four political parties: FRUD, National Democratic Party (PND), Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), and People’s Rally for Progress (RPP). RPP. RPP was formed in March 1979. In late 1981, the National Assembly decreed it the sole legitimate party. It maintained its status until 1992 when the constitution was rewritten to legalize multiple political parties. It has been the ruling party since its inception and is now led by President Ismail Omar Guelleh.

Founded in 1991 by a merger of three militant Afar groups, FRUD advocates fair ethnic representation in Djibouti’s government. It initiated an armed insurgency in November 1991, which led to a civil war. Before the war ended, FRUD split into two factions, one of which negotiated a settlement with the government of Djibouti and became a legal political party. The group's leaders were President Ali Mohamed Daoud and Secretary General Ougoureh Kifleh Ahmed. Ahmed Dini Ahmed leads the second faction, which favors a continuation of military operations. Ibrahim Chehem Daoud established a splinter group, FRUD-Renaissance, in 1996.

Founded in 1992, PRD seeks to establish a democratic, parliamentary government. It is led by Abdillahi Hamarateh. PND. Founded in 1992, PND seeks a national unity government to supervise implementation of democratic reforms. Robleh Awaleh Aden leads this group.

Djibouti’s non-registered movements include the Movement for Unity and Democracy (MUD); United Front of the Djibouti Opposition (FUOD); and Opposition Djiboutienne Unifiee (ODU).

Ismail Omar Guelleh succeeded his uncle, Hasan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999, taking the oath of office on 8 May 1999. Guelleh -- President Hassan Gouled Aptidon's chief of staff for more than 20 years, head of security, and key adviser for over 20 years -- was elected April 1999 to the presidency as the RPP candidate. He received 74% of the vote, with the other 26% going to opposition candidate Moussa Ahmed Idriss of the Unified Djiboutian Opposition (ODU). Guelleh was born in 1947 in Dire Dawa (eastern Ethiopia). He speaks Amharic, Somali, French, Arabic, and English.

For the first time since independence, no group boycotted the election. Moussa Ahmed Idriss and the ODU later challenged the results based on election irregularities and the assertion that foreigners had voted in various districts of the capital; however, international and locally based observers considered the election to be generally fair, and cited only minor technical difficulties. Guelleh took the oath of office as the second President of the Republic of Djibouti on May 8, 1999, with the support of an alliance between the RPP and the government-recognized section of the Afar-led FRUD.

Political parties (legalised in 1992) have since become more diverse: the RPP joined with FRUD to form a new ruling coalition, l'Union pour la Majorite Presidentielle (UMP). Four opposition parties formed L'Union pour l'Alternative Democratique (UAD) to contest parliamentary elections in January 2003. The UMP took 62.7% of the votes but won all 65 seats in the Chamber of Deputies due to Djibouti's unusual first-past-the-post list system. The UAD claimed extensive vote rigging and manipulation of constituency boundaries.

The government beat, harassed, and excluded opposition leaders. The government also restricted the operations of opposition parties and denied them permits to organize protests. According to Freedom House, opposition parties were also, disadvantaged by electoral rules and the government’s abuse of the administrative apparatus.

Presidential elections were held on 8 April 2005. Guelleh stood unopposed as the UMP candidate at the head of a five-party coalition that included the FRUD and other parties and claimed 96.85% of the vote on a 78.9% turn out. The opposition UAD failed to field a candidate and called for a boycott of the polls. They have disputed the high turn out figure. .