| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
22 February 2013 |
| Purpose of elections |
President Ismaël Omar Guelleh's Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), which had held all the 65 seats in the National Assembly since 1999, saw its share reduced to 55. Although a multi-party system was introduced in 1992, no opposition forces had been represented in parliament since the country's independence in 1977. In 2013, however, opposition forces, united under the National Salvation Union (USN), and participating in parliamentary elections for the first time since 2003, took the remaining 10 seats in the National Assembly (see note).
The UMP ran on the government's record while the USN promised to promote democracy and tackle corruption. USN spokesman Daher Ahmed Farah, who had returned to Djibouti in January 2013 after 10 years of exile in Europe, denounced massive fraud. The 10 USN members refused to take up their parliamentary seats.
The amendments to the electoral law, in force since December 2012, were applied for the first time. Previously, the electoral list which won the majority of the votes took all seats in each constituency. Starting from the 2013 elections, the winning list is entitled to 80 per cent of the seats and the remaining 20 percent of the seats are allotted proportionally to other lists which obtain at least 10 per cent of the valid votes.
Note:
The 2010 constitutional amendments provide for a Senate which is yet to be created. They also shorten the presidential term from six to five years and allow the President to run for a third term. Mr. Guelleh was most recently re-elected in April 2011, in an election boycotted by the opposition. |
Date of previous elections: 8 February 2008
Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: N/A
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Expected date of next elections: February 2018
Number of seats at stake: 65 (full renewal)
Number of candidates: 188
Percentage of women candidates: Not available.
Number of parties contesting the election: 3 lists
Number of parties winning seats: 2 lists
Alternation of power: No (presidential system)
Number of parties in government: 1
Names of parties in government: Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP)
Date of the first session of the new parliament: 5 March 2013
Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Idriss Arnaoud Ali (UMP) |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 22 February 2013 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
184'160
122'647 (66.6%)
2'345
120'302 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) |
55
|
|
|
|
|
| National Salvation Union (USN) |
10
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
58
7
10.77%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
National Assembly (14.04.2013, 24.02.2017)
http://www.presidence.dj/jo/2013/proclamation2013.php
Note on the number of women:
Seven women were elected in the February 2013 elections. However, the National Salvation Union (USN) announced that it would boycott parliament. As at 14 April 2013, there were seven women among the 55 members, all from the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP).
On 31 December 2014, the government and the USN reached an agreement which paved the way for USN members to join the National Assembly. Ten USN members were sworn in in January 2015. As at 24 February 2017, there were seven women out of 65 members. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
