Djibouti lifted the presidential age limit to allow 77-year-old leader Ismail Omar Guelleh to run for a sixth term in the April 2026 election. Djibouti’s constitution states that the head of state cannot run for office after the age of 75. The president, now 77, would have been barred from contesting the next election in April 2026.
However, all 65 members of parliament voted to remove the age limit, paving the way for an amendment that allows President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh to remain in power in the small Horn of Africa nation, which currently hosts military bases for the United States, France, and China.
