Djibouti’s President, Ismail Omar Guelleh, will run for a sixth term in next year’s election, political sources told AFP, after parliament removed a constitutional barrier that had prevented him from running again.

Guelleh has been in power since 1999.

The tiny Horn of Africa nation is a stable state in an often-troubled region, operating a major port that hosts military bases for the United States, France, China, Japan and Italy.

“He has agreed to be a candidate in next year’s presidential election, and everything went smoothly,” President of the National Assembly, Dileita Mohamed Dileita, told AFP, after a congress of the ruling People’s Rally for Progress (RPP).

The 77-year-old’s sixth-term ambition was confirmed to AFP by another congress participant, who requested anonymity, but has not been officially announced by the presidency.

Guelleh is the latest ageing African leader — such as 92-year-old Paul Biya in Cameroon, and 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara in the Ivory Coast — to seek to remain in power.

His re-election is virtually guaranteed.

He won the 2021 election with 97 per cent of the vote, while his coalition, the Union for the Presidential Majority, holds a majority of parliamentary seats.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) characterised the elections as “not free”.

The move comes less than a week after Parliament voted to remove the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates from the Constitution.

In 2010, the Constitution was amended to remove the two-term limit.

Human rights organisations regularly criticise Djibouti for its repression of dissenting voices.

It ranks 168th out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2025 World Press Freedom Index, with the NGO saying “the media landscape is completely controlled and limited almost exclusively to state media”.

Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the father of Djibouti’s independence, in 1999 after serving as his chief of staff for 22 years.

His announcement is not a surprise.

He left the door open to a sixth five-year term in an interview with the magazine Africa Report in May.

“All I can tell you is that I love my country too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure and be the cause of divisions,” he said when asked about his candidacy.

He also addressed the persistent rumours around his health, admitting he “probably” needed to “lose a few pounds.”

“Otherwise, everything is perfect,” he said.

Djibouti has only around 1 million inhabitants but lies on the strategic trade route through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

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