Djiboutian Minister of Interior Hassan Darar Houffaneh on Thursday (February 7th) announced the opening of the campaign period for the February 22nd legislative elections.

Campaigning will begin on Friday and continue for two weeks, Houffaneh said, according to the Djiboutian Information Agency. He called on all candidates to conduct themselves appropriately. "I would like to make a solemn appeal to all candidates to maintain the necessary tranquillity during the electoral period, and to refrain from rhetoric and behaviour that could divide Djiboutians and disrupt harmony and social peace," he said.

He also called on all citizens to exercise their civic duty by voting. He said that people who do not yet have their voting cards should go to their local prefectures to obtain them without delay.

Voters will choose 65 parliamentarians in the first election without a majority-list system. Candidate lists from Djibouti's Union for a Presidential Majority, Union for National Salvation (formerly the Holy Union for Change) and the Centre for Unified Democrats were approved by a ministerial audit committee earlier this week, and will be competing for seats nationwide.