Somalia: American sanctions following the new postponement of the elections

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo in 2017. REUTERS / Feisal Omar

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The difficult and controversial election process for the lower house of the Somali Parliament, which has been going on for months, could not be completed before the deadline.

It has therefore been officially postponed once again, despite the threats that this poses to an agreement with the IMF and to the Somali leaders, now targeted by American sanctions.

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Clearly, the Somali institutions involved in the inter-clan process of electing MPs are failing.

On television Friday, February 25, the Deputy Minister for Information explained that the National Advisory Council which supervises him had “

 expressed his disappointment at not having been able to meet the deadline

 ”, which was set for Friday.

The new deadline by which, after the upper house is completed at the end of 2021, all the deputies of the lower house must have been elected, is therefore set at March 15.

To date, only 175 deputies out of the 275 available seats have been elected.

Remember that it is the two chambers of Parliament together that must elect a successor to President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, candidate for his own succession.

It was the controversial extension of his own mandate in 2021 that caused the political crisis in which Somalia is today entangled, and which this election was to resolve.

Sanctions against Somali leaders

This is why this new delay is not a simple technical hitch.

This week, the IMF warned that a new delay could jeopardize its support program for Somalia.

And the United States immediately banned visas for Somali leaders guilty, according to them,

 of "acts of obstruction 

" in this crucial election.

There are consequences for obstructing Somalia's democratic process.

Today, we are imposing visa restrictions on those responsible for another missed election deadline.

https://t.co/JSEoyfmB8O

—Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 26, 2022

►Also listen: Witnesses to the news - How the Shebabs take advantage of the political crisis in Somalia

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  • Somalia

  • United States

  • Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo

  • IMF