Summary
· The reform aims to "encourage the multiparty political system" that is independent and "corruption free"
Somalia's government and federal
member states said Sunday that direct universal suffrage would be introduced
with local elections set for June 2024.
The move follows a pledge by
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in March to end a complex indirect system in
place since 1969.
"The basic principles should be
that the election of the Federal Somali Republic must be one that gives the
public the opportunity to cast their votes democratically in a one-person,
one-vote system," the government said after reaching an agreement with
state leaders.
The reform aims to "encourage
the multiparty political system" that is independent and "corruption
free", it added.
Somalia is struggling to emerge from
decades of conflict and chaos, but is battling a bloody Islamist insurgency and
natural disasters including a punishing drought that has left millions facing
hunger.
The country has not had one-person,
one-vote elections nationwide since 1969, when the dictator Siad Barre seized
power.
Instead, clan affiliations have been
the organising principle of Somali politics, with influential roles such as
speaker, prime minister and president divided among the main groups.
State legislatures and clan
delegates also pick lawmakers for the national parliament, who in turn choose
the president.
But rivalries between the clans have
resulted in decades of strife and political wrangling, which in recent years
have been exploited by the Al-Shabaab militants aligned with Al-Qaeda.
'Bright future'
On Thursday, Somalia held its first
elections by universal suffrage since 1969, in a local ballot in the
semi-autonomous state of Puntland.
Direct voting has also been held in
Puntland's neighbour Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 but has
never been recognised internationally.
Although the regional electoral
commission said the Puntland voting was marred by unspecified security
incidents, the United Nations, the African Union and several neighbouring
governments hailed a "historic" vote.
"The partners believe that
Puntland's experience with direct elections has the potential to inform and
inspire the expansion of democracy across Somalia, at all levels of
government," they said in a statement.
The agreement for nationwide
universal suffrage was reached after four days of meetings by the National
Consultative Forum, which included Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre and
federal state leaders.
But Puntland's state president Said
Abdullahi Deni did not attend the meeting as the region voted.
The agreement also calls for the
implementation of a single presidential ticket in which voters would choose a
president and vice-president, effectively quashing the prime minister post.
Mohamud was elected in May 2022
after a protracted political crisis that arose after the federal government and
regional states failed to agree on a mechanism to pick a president.
"Politics is not about
dominance, it is about organisation of ideas and therefore, the clan politics
is not relevant to the Somali national politics," Mohamud said when
unveiling his pledge for universal suffrage in March.
"I can see a bright future for
this country."
Mohamud is Somalia's first president
to win a second term, after being in office from 2012 to 2017.
He has vowed to confront myriad
problems and bring relief to citizens weary of violence by Al-Shabaab
jihadists, surging inflation and a worsening drought that threatens to drive
millions into famine.
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