Info
Parties and Candidates
PC001
Registration requirements for parties (Chamber 1)
Question: What are the registration requirements for political parties running for national elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s):
a . Signature requirement (specify requirement) b . Deposit requirement (specify amount) c . Regional distribution requirement e . Minimum number of candidates f . Other
Comments: ARTICLE 31. - For each district, each list includes a number of candidates equal to the number of seats to be filled. No one may be a candidate on more than one list.
ARTICLE 32. - Regularly constituted political parties are the only ones entitled to present candidates.
ARTICLE 33. - The lists of candidatures are deposited in duplicate with the Ministry of the Interior at the latest fifteen days before the opening of the electoral campaign. They must include the name, date and place of birth, domicile and profession of the candidates as well as their signature preceded by the handwritten mention (For acceptance) and the date. They must also mention the title of the list and the color or emblem chosen for the printing of the ballots. In addition, each candidate must attach to the list the following documents: - a criminal record of less than three months; - a birth certificate extract; - an attestation by the Commissioner of the Republic of his place of residence proving that he is domiciled in the country and that he is registered on the electoral lists.
ARTICLE 34. - The depositor of the list shall immediately be given a provisional receipt. A final receipt is issued after payment to the National Paymaster Treasurer of a bond fixed at 500,000 Djibouti francs per candidate and after examination of the admissibility of applications.
--It should be noted that parties MUST be registered for the government but the Electoral law does not include how this process is completed. Djibouti only changed to a multi-party country in 1992, with no opposition party winning seats until 2013--
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/AN/92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n°14/AN/11/6, art. 31-34: https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-electoral-law-1992/view (2016)
Verified: 2018/04/09
PC003
Registration requirements for candidates (Chamber 1)
Question: What are the legal qualifications to become a candidate at legislative elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s):
a . Age b . Citizenship i . Minimum level of literacy j . Other
Comments: ARTICLE 11. - Eligible to the National Assembly all Djibouti aged 23 years old, having the quality of voter and able to read, write and speak fluently French or Arabic.
ARTICLE 12. - The following may not be elected members of the National Assembly during the exercise of their functions: - the President of the Republic, - the Commissioners of the Republic, district chiefs and their deputies, the district chiefs of the district of Djibouti, - Secretaries-General of the Government and Ministries, - Judges, - State Controllers, Inspectors of Labor and Education, - Members of the Armed Forces and the National Security Force. - the commissioners and inspectors of the National Police.
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/AN/92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n°14/AN/11/6, art. 11 and 12: https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-electoral-law-1992/view (2016)
Verified: 2018/03/30
PC008
Independent candidates
Question: Can independent candidates compete in presidential or legislative elections?
Answer(s):
b . In presidential elections
Comments: The legal framework says that candidates have to be registered by a party, but there are independent candidates that run in the elections
ARTICLE 22. - The declaration of candidacy made in duplicate and bearing the signature of the candidate must be presented by a regularly constituted political party. The declaration of candidacy is registered by the Minister of the Interior who delivers immediately receipt.
ARTICLE 32. - Regularly constituted political parties are the only ones entitled to present candidates
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/AN/92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n°14/AN/11/6, art. 22, 32:
http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-electoral-law-1992/view
Verified: 2018/04/02
PC012
Public funding of parties
Question: Do political parties receive direct/indirect public funding?
Answer(s):
c . Indirect d . Other
Comments: ARTICLE 60. Candidates and political parties may use state and state television channels for their election campaign. A 60-minute program per candidate for the presidential elections, and by party for the parliamentary elections, is made available to the candidates. This 60 minutes duration, both on radio and television, can be used in a fractional way. The programs must be recorded and produced in the RTD studios.
There are not clear laws on party financing... see below evaluation report:
The ruling coalition is advantaged by unfettered access to the national media, which according to J Brass ‘cannot serve as a forum … because it is state-controlled and tightly monitored’.32 The UMP makes use of the state resources at its disposal for party financing.33 In fact, the most persistent problem in post-1991 Djiboutian politics is the fusion of the ruling party and the state and the ensuing difficulty of distinguishing between these two entities
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/ AN /92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n ° L 11/AN/02/4, art. 59, 60, 61: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-loi-electorale-avec-modifications-2002/view)
ISS Situation Report, 2011, Elections, politics and external involvement in Djibouti, p. 4
http://aigaforum.com/articles/The_situation_Djibouti.pdf
Verified: 2018/03/30
PC015
Question: What is the basis of the public funding?
Answer(s):
g . Not applicable
Comments: Article 59: The State pays the following propaganda expenses: - the printing of the ballot papers; - the printing of a circular to send or to send to all voters; - the printing and display of a cabinet with a maximum dimension of 594mmx84l mm; - the printing and display of a 297 mm x 420 mm format cupboard. A propaganda commission to give an opinion on the printing price of the election documents must be constituted at least twenty days before the date of the elections.
Article 60:Candidates and political parties can use the state and state television channels for their election campaign. A 60-minute program per candidate for the presidential elections, and by party for the parliamentary elections, is made available to the candidates. This 60 minutes duration, both on radio and television, can be used in a fractional way. The programs must be recorded and produced in the RTD studios.
No information available on direct public funding of political parties.
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/ AN /92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n ° L 11/AN/02/4, art. 59, 60, 61: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-loi-electorale-avec-modifications-2002/view
Verified: 2018/04/02
PC017
Question: Are political parties entitled to private funding?
Answer:
c . No information available
Comments:
Source: Electoral Law n° 1/ AN /92 regulating elections, as amended by Organic Law n ° L 11/AN/02/4, art. 59, 60, 61:
https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/DJ/djibouti-electoral-law-1992/view (2016)
http://www.ceni.dj/images/ceni2016/img/TEXTESJURIDIQUES.pdf (2016)
Verified: 2018/04/02
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Additional, but potentially outdated material is available here.
