Five of the parties in these coalitions were new, having been formed after the law restricting the number of political parties had expired. The opposition alliance was hurt by the decision of Aden Robleh Awaleh and his National Democratic Party to move from the opposition to being a member of the government coalition. Government supporters attacked the opposition leader Ahmed Dini Ahmed for his previous role as a leader of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy during the Djiboutian Civil War in the early 1990s. The Union for the Presidential Majority called for voters to support them so they could continue to bring economic development to Djibouti and to reduce poverty and unemployment. Meanwhile, the opposition criticised the government's record, accusing it of numerous failures and called on voters to bring political change to Djibouti.
