Djibouti's president re-electedDjibouti - Outgoing President Ismail Omar Guelleh won re-election as sole candidate on a turnout of 78.9% after the opposition had called for a boycott, Interior Minister Abdoulkader Doualeh Wais announced early on Saturday.
The minister told Djibouti radio and television (RTD) that the turnout, the only unknown factor in Friday's election, was "due to the government's very strong awareness-making of the very important issues and to an active electoral campaign".
Guelleh's foes, who called for a nationwide boycott, vowed not to accept the foregone conclusion of his re-election for a second six-year mandate.
He received 100% of the votes expressed, with 5.7% of ballots void, according to interior ministry figures.
In legislative elections in 2003, the opposition failed to win a single seat in parliament but insists it received support from 45% of voters, while this year it has been unfairly kept out of the process.
Despite having no opponent, the 57-year-old incumbent, known throughout this former French colony simply by his initials IOG, kept up a hectic campaign pace, vowing to reduce poverty and Djibouti's dependency on imported food.
He has also pledged to step down after his second six-year mandate and not try to repeal the presidential term limit enshrined in the constitution.
Since coming to power in 1999, Guelleh has turned Djibouti into a key western ally in the war on terrorism.
Located at the southern end of the Red Sea on the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti is a key staging post between the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal as well as the Indian Ocean and is home to the largest overseas French military base and the only US military base in Africa.
