Somalia on its way to parliamentary and presidential elections

Delegates from the Lower House of Parliament in Somalia (file image).

REUTERS / Ismail Taxta

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

For months, Somalia was torn apart over the organization of the parliamentary poll and the presidential election.

As the country became increasingly unstable, an agreement was reached two weeks ago adopting a new electoral model, and the government released the schedule for the upcoming elections.

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With our correspondent in Nairobi,

The timetable was eagerly awaited, as it had to respect at all costs

, scheduled for late November and early February.

Finally, the election of the Senate will take place between December 1 and 10, that of the lower house, from December 10 to 27.

The crucial elections of the presidents of the two chambers and especially of the new head of state are scheduled between January 1 and February 8.

" 

 ", reacted Abdishakur Mohamed, candidate-deputy in Mogadishu.

End of universal suffrage

It will cost 10 to 20,000 dollars to participate.

Finally, an independent commission of 21 members will be responsible for settling electoral disputes.

There is therefore little time left to organize the vote and apply the new system adopted in mid-September.

Called “Electoral Constituency Caucuses”, it is close to that of 2016, while being more inclusive, but just as complex.

For the lower house, for example, 28,000 delegates, almost twice as many as in the last ballot, will choose groups of 101 people in each state.

Not belonging to any party, each group of 101 Somalis will vote for one seat at a time, representing one community.

Somalia is therefore burying its dream of universal suffrage, last practiced in 1969. This project has become unrealistic because of the conflicts and the accumulated delays.

Nevertheless, a peaceful election could save the stability of the country.

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• Somalia

• Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo

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