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History and Government
History: Djibouti was originally inhabited by nomadic tribes, the main ones being the Afars and the Issas, who are strongly linked to Ethiopia and Somalia respectively. In 1862, the French signed a treaty with the Afar leaders, giving them land on the north coast. During the rest of the 19th century, Djibouti gradually became more firmly associated with France. In 1915, a railway was completed from Djibouti to Addis Ababa. In 1945, French Somaliland (as the area was called) was declared an ‘overseas territory’ and in 1967, it became the French territory of the ‘Afars and Issas’. Tensions between the Afars, the Issas and the French led to sporadic outbreaks of violence during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1977, the French agreed to withdraw and the country achieved independence with Hassan Gouled Aptidon as president.
A sizeable French military presence in the country guaranteed the Gouled regime, which was threatened by organised opposition – both inside the country and abroad – and by the instability of its larger neighbours, Somalia and Ethiopia and, latterly, Eritrea. In 1991, Afar tribesmen launched a major assault on the regime, under the rubric of Le Front pour la Restauration de l’Unité et la Démocratie (FRUD). After two years of fighting, the Government inflicted a series of significant military defeats on FRUD. A few months later, in May 1993, Gouled was re-elected as president. FRUD then split into a number of mutually antagonistic factions, one of which moved to arrange a political settlement with the Government. With French backing, the Government steadily restored control. Gouled’s party, the Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès (RPP), formed an alliance with the pro-government faction of FRUD, to contest the most recent National Assembly elections held in December 1997 and won all the seats. The current premier, who took office in 2001, is Mohammed Dileita.
The main opposition party, Parti de Renouveau Démocratique (PRD), failed to gain any representation, despite attracting 20 per cent of the vote. Gouled eventually resigned, in the spring of 1999, after 22 years in office and shortly before the most recent presidential election. Leadership of the RPP/FRUD alliance was taken over by Gouled’s nephew and former security chief, Ismail Omar Guelleh, who comfortably won the April poll, defeating PRD candidate Moussa Ahmed Idriss. The other FRUD faction, still controlled by Ahmed Dini, came to terms with the Government in February 2000, when the two sides signed a peace accord in Paris. Apart from a failed coup in December 2000 – orchestrated by a disaffected former police chief – Djibouti has enjoyed a welcome spell of domestic calm. Abroad, Djibouti has exploited its small, independent status to play the role of honest broker in regional disputes. It played a central role in the ceasefire agreed between Ethiopia and Eritrea and, in conjunction with Yemen and Sudan, it has worked to bring about a long-term political solution in Somalia. In the latter case, its efforts have been complicated by the deterioration of relations with the regime in ‘Somaliland’, the northern part of Somalia, which borders directly on Djibouti. However, the two have since patched up their differences. During 2002, the port of Djibouti has been heavily used by Western naval vessels policing shipping movements in the Gulf.
Government: The President, who is head of state, is directly elected for a six-year term. The 65-member Chamber of Deputies, elected for a five-year term, comprises the legislature. Executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers and led by the Prime Minister, who is responsible to the President.
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