Hassan Gouled Aptidon

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Hassan Gouled Aptidon (Somali: Xasan Guuleed Abtidoon. Arabic: حسن جولد أبتيدون) (October 15, 1916 - 21 November 2006) was the first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.

He was born in a small village called Garissa in the Lughaya district of northern Somalia. He played an important role in Djibouti's struggle for independence from France. According to I.M. Lewis, "with the powerful support of the French electorate" Hassan Gouled campaigned against Mahamoud Harbi Farah of the Union Republicaine party, who sought to join the territory with neighboring Somalia. By the time of the 23 November 1958 elections, Mahamud Harbi's party had disintegrated and with the majority of the Afar vote, his faction won election. Mahamud Harbi subsequently fled Djibouti, and later died in a plane crash.^[1]

Hassan Gouled served as vice-president of the government council from 1958 to April 1959, when he was elected to the seat that Djibouti held in the French National Assembly. Later he served as Prime Minister between May 1977 and July 1977.

In 1981, Hassan Gouled turned the country into a one party state by declaring that his party, the Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès (RPP) (People's Rally for Progress), was the sole legal one. After the breakout of a civil war in 1991 he allowed for a constitutional referendum on multiparty politics in September 1992, with four parties being permitted; in the parliamentary elections held in December 1992, however, only two parties competed, and the RPP won all 65 seats in the National Assembly. Gouled was reelected for a fourth term in May 1993 with 60.7% of the vote.^[2]

In the 1990s, the Djibouti economy deteriorated dramatically, with net external asets falling by 40 per cent. The World Bank issued "a correspondingly gloomy and highly critical" assessment, mentioning such social problems as the excessive consumption of the addictive and debilitating drug qat by Djibouti's citizens. During this period, Hassan Gouled's nephew Ismaïl Omar Guelleh not only maneuvered to be his succesor, but increasingly came to handle affairs for the elderly Hassan Gouled.^[3]

Hassan Gouled stepped down in 1999, at the age of 83. His successor was his nephew, Ismail Omar Guelleh. He died on 21 November 2006 aged 90.^[4]

[edit] References

^ I. M. Lewis, A modern history of Somalia, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 180
^ Elections in Djibouti, African Elections Database.
^ Lewis, A History, pp. 290f
^ "Décès du Président Hassan Gouled à l’âge de 90 ans", Agence djiboutienne d'information, 2006-11-21. (French)

Preceded by (–)	President of Djibouti 1977–1999	Succeeded by Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
Preceded by (–)	Prime Minister of Djibouti 1977	Succeeded by Ahmed Dini Ahmed