Djibouti election expected to extend incumbent’s 27 years in presidential office

Djibouti’s longstanding leader Ismael Omar Guelleh is expected to win Friday’s presidential election, handing him a sixth consecutive term in a race against one weak opposition candidate.

While critics dismiss the election as “token competition”, supporters say the 78-year-old incumbent has brought stability to the Horn of Africa country strategically situated between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.