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Carafaat

Revolution in Djibouti: Dictator Ismail Omer Guelleh must go!

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Tallaabo   

Carafaat;923595 wrote:
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Demonstration in Djibouti against Dictator Omer Guelleh last friday.

Dila....jooga.....soo yaaca. This is hilarious.

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Djibouti ruling party declares election victory, opposition says flawed

 

By Abdourahim Arteh

DJIBOUTI | Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:05am EST

(Reuters) - Djibouti's ruling coalition declared victory on Saturday in the Red Sea state's parliamentary election, but the opposition rejected the vote as flawed and said it planned demonstrations to protest against the outcome.

 

The disputed result raises the possibility of instability in Djibouti, which hosts the United States' only military base in Africa and is an ally in the West's fight against militant Islam.

 

Interior Minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh said provisional results showed that President Ismail Omar Guelleh's Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) had won 49 out of 65 seats in Friday's election.

 

A spokesman for the Union of National Salvation (USN) opposition alliance said the vote was rigged. He said results were announced too quickly and there were incidences of ballot-stuffing and double voting.

 

"It is a joke that does not match the reality of what took place in the capital and in the regions of the interior," Daher Ahmed Farah said.

 

"That the results were announced at 5.00 am when the polls closed at 7.00 pm is quite significant. The regime has cooked it and the Djiboutian population will take note."

 

The ruling coalition leaders of UMP were unreachable for comment.

 

Farah said opposition politicians had called for protests over the vote. There was a heavy police presence in Djibouti city in a district where protesters were likely to converge.

 

In power since 1999, Guelleh has effectively controlled a one-party state for his last 10 years in the former French colony, whose port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy.

 

Chaotic Somalia, a haven for al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels, is among its neighbors.

 

Friday's election was the first contested parliamentary vote since 2003 when Guelleh's party swept all 65 seats in a poll marred by allegations of fraud.

 

The opposition boycotted a parliamentary election in 2008 and then refused to field a candidate in the 2011 presidential election, saying that the vote would not be free and fair.

 

Formed in December, the USN bloc is composed of the Republican Alliance for Development, the Djibouti Development Party and the National Democratic Party.

 

While the provisional results showed the opposition had eaten into the UMP's complete dominance of parliament, the USN alliance said they were not a fair reflection of actual voting.

 

Polls had shown that support for the opposition USN alliance surged in the run-up to the election, and the group's rallies in the capital attracted large crowds.

 

The opposition's main goal was to overturn what they say is Guelleh's policy to stifle dissent and the right to assembly in the tiny country of about 920,000 people.

 

In February 2011, galvanized by the success of Arab Spring revolts that toppled dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, anti-government demonstrators in Djibouti demanded Guelleh step down and clashed with riot police.

 

(Editing by George Obulutsa and Rosalind Russell)

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Djiboutian opposition parties to contest parliamentary elections

By Harbi Abdillahi Omar in Djibouti

 

January 23, 2013

 

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Three main opposition parties in Djibouti -- the Republican Alliance for Development, the Djibouti Party for Development and the National Democratic Party -- are preparing to take part in next month's legislative elections under the banner of a new political bloc known as the Holy Union for Change (USC).

 

 

Djiboutians cast their votes on April 8, 2011 in presidential elections that returned Ismail Omar Guelleh to power. Opposition parties boycotted that election as they did in the 2008 parliamentary one. [simon Maina/AFP]

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"After intensive discussions, the opposition bloc, which has been joined by movements and independent figures, has formed a coalition to bring a 10-year political boycott to an end," a USC statement said last month.

 

The ruling coalition, Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP), which has been in power for a decade, included the People's Rally for Progress, the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy, the Union of Reform Partisans and the Social Democratic Party. This year, UMP will also include the Authentic National Democratic Party, which comprises members of the National Democratic Party who split from the opposition, and a few other small parties.

 

Nonetheless, Abdoulkarim Mahamoud, a founding member of the Djibouti Party for Development, said this year the opposition would be more successful.

 

"The Djiboutian opposition is more determined than ever to take part in and win the legislative elections on February 22nd," he told Sabahi. "By forming an alliance, the opposition parties have a strong chance of winning these elections."

 

"To strengthen itself in the short term, the USC plans to expand to absorb all other opposition parties and figures," he said. "When this stage is complete, the coalition will announce its campaign structures, charter and leaders."

 

As a portent of the opposition's increasing momentum, renowned opposition leader Daher Ahmed Farah returned to Djibouti on January 13th after 10 years in exile in Belgium to join the USC coalition and lend his voice as its spokesman, said Mahamoud.

 

Before his self-imposed exile, Farah led the now defunct Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development party, which had consistently criticised the Djiboutian government and demanded President Ismail Omar Guelleh step down.

 

Mahamoud said Farah's arrival would enable the USC to take on the UMP coalition more effectively.

 

Hassan Abdillahi, a member of the Authentic National Democratic Party, said the UMP is not worried about the Djiboutian opposition.

 

"The opposition suffers from lack of leadership, this alliance is a façade," he told Sabahi. "Because of a 10-year absence from the political scene, they no longer have legitimacy or political credibility."

 

"[The UMP] is now stronger than ever," Abdillahi said. "With no credible political manifesto, there is little chance this opposition can beat the UMP."

 

New electoral system favours opposition

For 35 years, the Djiboutian parliament has been chosen by a majority list system in which the majority party fills all seats in the parliament -- a system the opposition has continually opposed. In November last year, however, the government approved the replacement of the majority list system with a mixed-list system in which up to 20% of the seats will be awarded proportionally.

 

"There will be joint lists within the USC and all parties will be free to propose candidates," said Abdoulkader Hamadou, a member of the Republican Alliance for Development. "The different opposition parties will then choose from among these candidates those who are best qualified to represent us and give us a presence in the country's 65 electoral districts."

 

The opposition parties have until January 24th to announce their candidates and until February 14th to finalise their lists to be approved by the government.

 

"Although we cannot rule out a last-minute manoeuvre by the government, I am confident that the opposition will win," Hamadou told Sabahi.

 

A number of parties still do not have formal approval to run in the elections, such as the Rally for Action on Democracy and Development (RADD) and the Movement for Development and Liberty (MODEL).

 

RADD, whose members come from civil society, caused an upset by beating the ruling coalition in municipal elections on February 10th last year. The party is currently led by the mayor of the capital, Abdourahman Mohamed Guelleh.

 

MODEL is regarded as a moderate Islamist party. Led by Sheikh Guirreh Meidal and with well-known sheikhs such as Abdourahman Bashir among its members, it too has yet to receive formal approval from the Ministry of the Interior.

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Clashes in Djibouti continue, arrested clerics to appear in court on Sunday

March 01, 2013

 

Youth activists in Djibouti continued to take to the streets on Friday (March 1st) in protest of the government's arrest of opposition leaders and the outcome of the February 22nd legislative elections, spurring violent clashes with security forces.

 

Observers declare Djiboutian election legitimate, opposition plans protest Human Rights Watch calls for further investigation into Tana River violence Djiboutian government calls for election protestors to maintain order Victims of Kenyan 2007-2008 post-election violence sue for compensation. After Friday prayers, youth activists and supporters of the Union for National Salvation gathered in areas of the Balbala suburb such as Sheikhs Moussa, Hayabley and Agadalis.

 

Interior Minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh has banned all demonstrations and rallies and called for calm.

 

The clashes over the last week have caused extensive damage and paralysed traffic. Meanwhile, Djiboutian clerics Abdirahman Bashir, Abdirahman God and Guirreh Meidal will appear in court on Sunday (March 3rd) to face charges of inciting violent protests in the capital.

 

The three accused were scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, but the court re-scheduled their appearance to Sunday when they refused to present themselves, said defence lawyer Zakaria Abdillahi Ali.

 

All three clerics of the Movement for Development and Liberty were apprehended on Monday following opposition protests in the capital over the results of the recent legislative elections.

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Carafaat   

Tallaabo;923604 wrote:
Dila....jooga.....soo yaaca. This is hilarious.

Nothing funny about it. This is a serieus issue and we pray for the justice of our Djiboutian brothers.

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Carafaat stop you're nonsense President ismaciil cumar geele is in full control he arrested those trouble makers

 

Long live president geele and the people of Djibouti

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Carafaat   

Xaaji Xunjuf;923669 wrote:
Carafaat stop you're nonsense President ismaciil cumar geele is in full control he arrested those trouble makers

 

Long live president geele and the people of Djibouti

Waryaa, why are u supporting this dictator?

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Give it a rest saaxib Ismaciil Cumar geele is the best President Djibouti ever had there is no opposition bunch a disorganized Mullahs , will not challenge the legendary geele

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