2008 Djiboutian parliamentary election

2008 Djiboutian parliamentary election
← 2003 8 February 2008 2013 →
All 65 seats in the National Assembly
  First party
 
Leader Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
Party UMP
Seats won 65
Seat change Steady
Popular vote 103,463
Percentage 100%
Swing Increase31.36pp
Politics of Djibouti
Arab League Member State of the Arab League
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
map Africa portal
icon Politics portal

Parliamentary elections were held in Djibouti on 8 February 2008.[1] There were 65 candidates running for the 65 seats in the National Assembly, with all of the candidates coming from the ruling coalition, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP).[2] The opposition boycotted the election, and the UMP won all 65 seats.[3]

In boycotting the election, the opposition complained that the electoral system guaranteed victory for the UMP;[1][2] in the previous parliamentary elections in 2003, the UMP won all 65 seats despite the opposition receiving 38% of the vote.[1] The opposition unsuccessfully demanded that proportional representation be introduced. Ismael Guedi Hared, a leader of the opposition Union for a Democratic Alternative, said that the country effectively had a one-party system, that "none of the democratic rules [were] respected", and that the government was unwilling to accept proportional representation because it was fearful of discontent.[2]

  1. ^ a b c "Début du vote avec retard pour les législatives", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), 8 February 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "Djibouti votes amid opposition boycott", AFP (IOL), February 8, 2008.
  3. ^ "Législatives à Djibouti: victoire du parti présidentiel, forte participation" Archived May 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), 9 February 2008 (in French).