The Parliament of Somalia approves new electoral laws and the creation of a body to regulate voting

The vote takes place after the framework agreement to reintroduce universal suffrage and postpone the elections to 2025

Nov. 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Somalia’s Parliament has approved several electoral laws, including the rules that will govern the upcoming elections and the creation of an electoral commission, following the agreement reached at the end of October between Somali political leaders for a framework that will lead to the reintroduction of universal suffrage.

The legislative body has indicated in a statement published on its account on the social network Facebook that its two chambers have approved the laws in a joint session, a vote that resulted in 170 votes in favor, none against and one abstention.

The legislation is in line with the aforementioned decision of the National Consultative Council, adopted despite the rejection of the president of Jubaland, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, and the rejection of the Puntland region. Both oppose these reforms, which has sparked concerns about their application and possible tensions with central authorities.

In fact, the state of Jubaland (southern) announced over the weekend that it will break relations with the central government over the dispute over this proposal, after Mogadishu accused the president of this region of unilaterally initiating the process to appoint an electoral commission to hold elections with the current voting system.

The aforementioned October 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 of November.

The pact came after the Somali Parliament unanimously approved a bill in March modifying the electoral system and reintroducing universal suffrage in the country, where elections are not held with the ‘one person, one vote’ system. since 1969, when Siad Barre seized 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. The current president, Mohamed Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May 2022 with this system, which he promised to reform to introduce universal suffrage.