Somalia’s electoral commission, the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) has announced that the country’s parliamentary elections will now hold between October 23 and November 10, but the presidential elections won’t come up until November 30. This gives way for a further extension of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s tenure, which was supposed to have ended on September 10. There are growing concerns about what the elections may look like; questions are being asked about whether or not the presidential poll will live up to credible expectation after all.
National elections have only held once in Somalia since 1986. But with the help of a United Nations (UN) supported arrangement, the country would have other elections to vote the president and members of the parliament this year. This time, the number of those expected to vote will be greater than what was seen in the 2012 elections. In the previous election, four years ago, only 135 clan elders selected the parliament, that in turn decided who became the president.
During the 2016 elections, 14,000 delegates representing the country’s four major clans – Darod, Dir, Hawiye, and Isaaq – will select the 275 members of the lower house, while regional federal states will select the 54 members that make up the upper house of parliament. The elected lawmakers will now vote on who becomes the president afterwards.
According to the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), Michael Keating, “Much preparatory work has been completed, and registration of 14,000 Electoral College delegates and hundreds of parliamentary candidates is in progress, with many painful compromises between interest groups and clans. This broadens the college from just 135 men in 2012. Thirty percent of the 14,000 must be women and 20 per cent youth.”
Despite the improvement in the number of people involved and better distribution between genders, there are still debates on how only a few people will decide the leadership of the whole country. 14,000 delegates represent less than one percent of the country’s population (estimated 12 million).
More disturbing, the United Nations has raised concerns about the recent delay of the elections. The UN says it raises “immediate concern” of a possible political manipulation of the electoral process. Moreover, the latest postponement may not be the last, the UN also pointed. The presidential election was initially slated for August before it was pushed to October, after the parliamentary poll, and now scheduled for November 30.
There are 18 contenders for the presidency, including the incumbent, Mohamoud. Fadumo Dayib, the only woman in the race, has also voiced her concerns on what she labelled dictatorship by the current government. “Free speech, free press and movement [are] restricted. The constitution breached. Political opponents are intimidated and silenced,” Dayib said.
As it stands now, considering the hostility and unconstitutional postponement that have hindered elections so far, it seems the incumbent leaders of the country, including the president, are unwilling to relinquish power. This is dangerous for the relative stability experienced in Somalia, and it casts a cloud on the hopes of a credible election in the country.
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