US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI1158

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 001158 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF AND AF/E; 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER; 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINS, KDEM, DJ 
SUBJECT: REGIONAL ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: On December 30th, 2005, 
elections will be held in Djibouti for the 
first time to choose regional governing 
councils for the five districts of Arta, Ali 
Sabieh, Dikhil, Obock, Tadjourah and the 
three community councils of Djibouti City. 
The election date was postponed for more 
than two years despite promises from the 
President. All clues seem to indicate that 
this one will be the final date. On November 
12th, the Minister of Interior issued a 
press statement in which he indicated the 
number of registered voters for this 
election, and modalities as well as 
conditions in order for candidates to 
compete. For the first time in Djibouti, 
independent and civil society candidates are 
allowed to run for an elected office. As 
with the presidential elections, the 
opposition has decided to boycott the 
upcoming regional elections, once again 
demanding electoral reform. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) The government proclaimed December 
30, 2005 to be Election Day in the five 
regions of the country as well as Djibouti 
City. The number of registered voters 
determines the number of seats in regional 
and community councils. One seat is given 
for every 1,000 registered voters in a 
region or community. The regional governing 
council in Dikhil will have 30 seats, 
Tadjourah will have 22 seats, Ali Sabieh 
will have 20 seats, Obock will have 16 
seats, and Arta will have 9 seats. For the 
purposes of decentralization, a special 
status was created for the City of Djibouti 
to dictate how the city would be governed. 
The special status divides the City of 
Djibouti into three communities - Ras Dika, 
Boulaos, and Hayabley - each with its own 
Community Governing Council. The same 
proportion will be used to determine the 
number of seats per governing council: 1 
seat per 1,000 registered voters in the 
community.  The Community Council for Ras 
Dika will have 4 seats, Boulaos will have 71 
seats, and Hayabley will have 29 seats. 
 
3. (U) Once elected, the three Community 
Councils (CC) will choose 35 representatives 
among themselves to form the Council of 
Djibouti City (CDC). The CDC will then elect 
the Mayor of Djibouti City from within its 
membership. Community councils are 
responsible for managing social, cultural 
and sports facilities within the community. 
CC also manages public markets, works and 
communal spaces. The local CC is consulted 
in all matters related to taxes, voting, and 
investment choices. The CDC is responsible 
for all programs and development projects 
concerning Djibouti-City. Environmental 
protection, acceptance or refusal of 
legacies and donations, local taxes 
collection are among the major 
responsibilities of the CDC. 
 
4. (U) In order to be a candidate in the 
regional and community elections, a person 
must be 23 years of age or older on the day 
of the election and be a Djiboutian citizen. 
Candidacy is open to political parties and 
independent persons from civil society. Each 
party or civil society organization can 
submit a list of candidates to fill the 
number of seats in the regional or community 
council to which they wish to be elected. 
Each candidate or list must pay a 250,000 DF 
deposit to the National Treasury, which will 
be returned if they receive more than five 
percent of the vote. The candidate or party 
that receives 25 percent or more of the vote 
will get 50 percent of the seats for that 
council. If multiple parties or candidates 
receive 25 percent or more of the vote, then 
a second round of voting will take place. 
The remaining 50 percent of the seats will 
be proportionally distributed to the other 
candidates that received higher than 5 
percent of the vote. 
 
5. (U) Due to their positions, some civil 
servants are not eligible to compete for 
regional elections. This includes 
accountants of public funds, district 
commissars, Constitutional Council members 
and judges, security forces and army 
personnel, state inspectors, civil servants 
working in the department of 
Decentralization within the Ministry of 
Interior, ministers and members of 
parliament, and Secretary Generals and 
directors of public-owned companies. 
Registration for candidates will close 
November 26, 2005. The Minister of Interior 
has left open the option of a second round 
of voting for January 20, 2006, should any 
seat have been contested. On numeric level, 
registered voters in the whole republic 
total 204,607. There will be 204 seats 
contested. There will be 293 (two hundred 
ninety three) polling stations. 
 
6. (U) Some critics are already appearing 
within civil society organizations and 
national observers regarding the perceived 
lack of preparation from the government. 
Questions such as "How will the regional, 
community and city councils be paid?" have 
yet to be answered. Others complain about 
the disproportion between the different 
electoral communities in terms of 
inhabitants and number of seats. For 
example, the Community of Ras-Dika has only 
four seats to represent 3,906 registered 
voters, while the Community of Boulaos has 
71 seats to represent 71,406 registered 
voters. Also, power sharing between the 
central government and the local governing 
bodies has not yet been well defined. The 
decentralization law of 2002 and the special 
status of the capital do not clearly divide 
areas of responsibility between the two 
entities. 
 
7. (U) Some government officials are aware 
of the malfunctions and errors cited in the 
different laws but they attribute this to 
the election being the first experience in 
decentralization. On the other hand, the 
several promises made so far by President 
Guelleh would not allow a third postponement 
of the elections. International donors 
present in Djibouti have expressed their 
frustration when decentralization is 
mentioned in a discussion. Although the lack 
of resources is obvious and despite the 
several reminders from donors that the 
Government express its needs well ahead of 
the due date, the government persists on 
presenting its demands in a very short 
notice. This attitude has jeopardized a 
number of projects in the past, particularly 
with the EU regarding 600,000 Euros devoted 
for pre-election operations that ended up 
being returned to the EU because the 
Djiboutian government didn't ask for 
assistance in timely manner. Post has 
learned that the 2006 state budget has 
allocated 1 Billion Djibouti Francs (USD 5.6 
Million) for decentralization. The uses of 
this budget will be discussed in the 
Parliament when the Budgetary Session opens 
on November 30, 2005. 
 
 
RAGSDALE