Government & politics — Djibouti

• Approved by referendum 4 September 1992 Amendments: Proposed by the president of the republic or by the National Assembly; Assembly consideration of proposals requires assent of at least one third of the membership; passage requires a simple majority vote by the Assembly and approval by simple majority vote in a referendum; the president can opt to bypass a referendum if adopted by at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly; constitutional articles on the sovereignty of Djibouti, its republican form of government, and its pluralist form of democracy cannot be amended; amended 2006, 2008, 2010

• Chief of State: Presid
• ent Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999) Head of Government: Prime Mi
• nister Abdoulkader Kamil MOHAMED (since 1 April 2013) Cabinet: Council of Min
• isters appointed by the prime minister Elections/Appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term; election last held on 9 April 2021 (next to be held in April 2026);
• prime minister appointed by the president Election results: 2021: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president for a fifth term; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH (RPP) 97.4%, Zakaria Ismael FARAH (MDEND) 2.7% 2016: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president for a fourth term; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH (RPP) 87%, Omar Elmi KHAIREH (CDU) 7.3%, other 5.6%

Description

Unicameral National Assembly or Assemblée Nationale, formerly the Chamber of Deputies (65 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method; members serve 5-year terms)

Elections

Last held on 24 February 2023 (next to be held in February 2028)

Election Results

• Percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - UMP 58, UDJ 7;

Composition

men 48, women 17, percent of women 26.2%

• Highest court(s): Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of NA magistrates); Constitutional Council (
• consists of 6 magistrates) Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court magistrates appointed by the president with the advice of the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM), a 10-member body consisting of 4 judges, 3 members (non parliamentarians and judges) appointed by the president, and 3 appointed by the National Assembly president or speaker; magistrates appointed for life with retirement at age 65; Constitutional Council magistrate appointments - 2 by the president of the republic, 2 by the president of the National Assembly, and 2 by the CSM; magistrates appointed for 8-year,
• non-renewable terms Subordinate courts: High Court of Appeal; 5 Courts of First Instance; customary courts; State Court (replaced sharia courts in 2003)

• Front for Restoration of Unity and Democracy (Front pour la Restauration de l'Unite Democratique) or FRUD [Ali Mohamed DAOUD]
• National Democratic Party or PND [Abdourahman Mohamed ALLALEH]
• People's Rally for Progress or RPP [Ismail Omar GUELLEH] (governing party)
• Peoples Social Democratic Party or PPSD [Hasna Moumin BAHDON]
• Union for Democracy and Justice or UDJ [Ilya Ismail GUEDI Hared]
• Union for the Presidential Majority coalition or UMP [collective leadership] (electoral coalition includes FRUD, PND, RPP, PPSD, and UPR)
• Union of Reform Partisans or UPR [Ibrahim Daoud CHEHEM]
• Note: Only parties with seats in the National Assembly included

• No Citizenship by descent only: The mot
• No Residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, ATMIS, AU, CAEU (candidates), COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Chief of Mission

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Christopher SNIPES (since October 2023) Embassy: Lot 350-B Haramouss, B.P. 185 Mailing address: 2150 Djibouti Place, Washington DC 20521-2150

Telephone

[253] 21-45-30-00

FAX

[253] 21-45-31-29

Email address and website

• DjiboutiACS@state.gov

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Mohamed Siad DOUALEH (28 January 2016)

Chancery

1156 15th Street NW, Suite 515, Washington, DC 20005

Telephone

[1] (202) 331-0270

FAX

[1] (202) 331-0302

Email address and website

• info@djiboutiembassyus.org
• https://www.djiboutiembassyus.org/