President Ismail Omar Guelleh during the Council of Ministers meeting in Djibouti that approved the election delay, October 27, 2026. Photo: Vue sur Djibouti via X
Djibouti's Council of Ministers has approved a decree postponing regional and municipal elections from February to April 2027, so that the vote does not fall during the holy month of Ramadan.
The draft decree was presented by the Ministry of the Interior at the 12th session of the Council on Tuesday, chaired by President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the official Djibouti News Agency (ADI) reported. The elections had been expected in February, which would have coincided with the month of fasting, expected roughly from February 8 to March 8, 2027. The authorities judged it "useful" to delay the vote so that citizens could devote themselves to "contemplation during this sacred month," and to guarantee "better conditions of organization," according to ADI.
The decree also extends the mandate of the current regional and municipal councillors, which ends on February 11, 2027. They will stay in office until the elections in April, ADI said. No exact date for the new vote was announced.
The decision was quickly shared on social media by Djiboutian news accounts. Djib Live (@LiveDjib) posted a graphic headed "the vote postponed to April 2027" and said the delay was motivated by the overlap of the electoral calendar with Ramadan. Galsan TV (@GalsanTv) wrote that the Council of Ministers had approved the move on October 27, "thus extending" the councillors' terms until then.
Critics were unimpressed by the official reasons. A critic posting as @issa37011 wrote this week that Djibouti's elections are "ridiculous," citing a result of "97.8 % of suffrages" and adding that "we refuse the fraud elections and corrupt institutions." The account @bedaniLander4 noted that Freedom House rates Djibouti "Not Free," with a score of 24 out of 100, and that Guelleh has held power since 1999. Mereja found no public statement from opposition parties on the delay.
At the same meeting, Guelleh announced an exceptional allocation of 1.8 billion Djiboutian francs, about $10.13 million, to the Djibouti Economic Development Fund (FDED) to support young entrepreneurs and fight unemployment, ADI and Dawan Africa reported. He said the money should help young people turn their ideas into businesses and create lasting jobs, with priority given to agriculture, livestock, fisheries, tourism, renewable energy, logistics, digital services and the circular economy. The fund will also offer training, technical assistance and follow up, and the program's success will be measured by the viability of the businesses created and the number of jobs, he said.
The announcement drew both praise and questions. Vue sur Djibouti (@View_of_Djib), which shared photos from the meeting, called it a "flash" financing announcement for young people. The commentator Alpha Lassini (@LassiniAlpha) published an analysis titled "Djibouti and the ten million dollars promised to its youth," which argued that the way the FDED is governed, and the demands of a real employment policy, will decide whether the money makes a difference.
The Gov't, for its part, said the delay is about giving Djiboutians "better conditions of organization" for the vote, ADI reported. The presidency's official record of the Council session gives the same reasons and also sets no exact date for the April vote.
Mereja has asked Djibouti's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on the new election date, the legal basis for extending the councillors' mandates and whether opposition parties were consulted. The ministry had not responded by publication time.