The authorities are promoting legal modifications in view of the reintroduction of universal suffrage
Nov. 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Parliament of Somalia has supported this Wednesday the creation of a new electoral commission, already supported on Tuesday by the Government, within the framework of the authorities’ efforts to establish a new legal framework for the reintroduction of universal suffrage in the African country.
Thus, the legislature has closed its vote in favor of the creation of the Federal Electoral Commission with 169 votes in favor and six against, after a session marked by tensions surrounding accusations about the alleged lack of ‘quorum’ to proceed. .
The vote took place just one day after the Somali Council of Ministers endorsed the composition of the body, made up of 18 people and in charge of supervising the elections and applying the ‘one person, one vote’ voting model, according to the Somali state news agency, SONNA.
It also takes place after the federal government rejected the validity of the presidential elections held over the weekend in the semi-autonomous region of Jubaland, in which the region’s now leader, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, popularly known as Ahmed Madobe, took office. with a third term. In response, the Somali army deployed troops near the regional capital, amid fears of an offensive.
The current Somali president, Hasan Sheikh Mohamud, has promoted a modification of the legislation that reintroduces universal suffrage, one of his main promises during the electoral campaign. The country’s main political leaders – with the rejection of Jubaland and Puntland – reached an agreement in October establishing a framework for the aforementioned reintroduction of universal suffrage.
The aforementioned agreement meant setting the municipal elections in June 2025, followed by the parliamentary elections in November of that year, which meant a postponement of the local elections, which should have already taken place in June, and the legislative elections, scheduled for this same month. November.
No elections have been held in Somalia with the ‘one person, one vote’ system since 1969, when Siad Barre took power after a coup d’état. Currently, the country has an indirect system in which clans and regional parliaments elect their representatives to the federal Parliament, which, in turn, is responsible for electing the president.
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