Djibouti validates presidential poll results

 

(AFP) – 1 day ago

DJIBOUTI — Djibouti's constitutional council on Wednesday validated results of last week's presidential poll which showed that incumbent Ismael Omar Guelleh won 80 percent of votes in a contest boycotted by the opposition.
The 63-year-old Guelleh faced a single independent candidate, Mohamed Warsama Ragueh, who took 19 percent in last Friday's elections.
Opposition groups had stayed out of the polls in protest at constitutional changes overseen by Guelleh that allowed him to run for a third term, but which he said would be his last.
Turnout from the 152,000 registered voters was 75 percent.
Guelleh has ruled the small but strategic country since 1999.
Djibouti hosts the largest oversees French military base as well as the only US army base in Africa.