DJIBOUTI: Voters in Djibouti went to the polls on Friday, with iron-fisted ruler Ismail Omar Guelleh expected to extend his 17-year rule in the strategic African nation courted by world powers.
Six candidates are vying for the presidency in the tiny Horn of Africa country, whose strategic location at the gateway to the Red Sea has attracted powers such as the US, France and China as a prime location for military bases.
Guelleh is the clear frontrunner, predicted to win a fourth election victory in the former French colony after taking over from his relative Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who ruled from independence in 1977 until 1999.
As in previous polls, some opposition parties are boycotting the election in which 180,000 people are expected to cast their ballots.
Polling stations opened at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) but few had voted so far Friday, the weekly day off in Djibouti. The streets of Djibouti City were almost deserted except for security forces.
"It's a little early, people will come around 10:00," said an election official at a polling station in the city centre, where only around 15 ballots had been cast.
Results are expected as early as Friday evening.
Djibril, a security worker who had just voted, said he had backed Guelleh. "There's no question," he said. "The other candidates have no policies. Guelleh has very clear policies: continue making advancements, development, the ports. We have to stick with him."
His views were not shared by Houssein, among the 60 percent of Djibouti's population who are unemployed.
"We need something different," he said as he went to cast his ballot.
With a population of less than a million, Djibouti is little more than a port with a country attached, but it has leveraged its position on one of the world's busiest shipping routes.
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