Djibouti: Guelleh expected to win fifth presidential term in vote

Incumbent president’s only rival is a political newcomer as the traditional opposition boycotts Friday’s vote.

Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh is expected to extend his more-than-20-year rule when the country heads to the polls on Friday. Guelleh, 73, is facing political newcomer Zakaria Ismail Farah, his only rival after traditional opposition parties decided to boycott the election. A businessman specialised in the importation of cleaning products, Farah, 56, is seen by observers as unlikely to pose a significant challenge to the man who has held power in the Horn of Africa nation for 22 years.