Somalia: election of a new president amid political and security crises

The elections in Somalia are particularly awaited.

REUTERS/Feisal Omar

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2 mins

The vote of the Parliament must be held, this Sunday, May 15, 2022, in a hangar of the airport of the capital under the protection of the force of the African Union.

Police also instituted a curfew in Mogadishu citing security concerns.

A total of 38 candidates are finally in the running after one of them announced his withdrawal on Saturday.

The outgoing Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is a candidate for re-election, against several heavyweights in Somali politics.

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With our regional correspondent in Nairobi

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Several times postponed,

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It must mark the end of more than a year of a serious political crisis which has deeply divided the country, and hampered the fight against the Islamist Shebabs.

Curfew in all capitals, polls held in an ultra-guarded hangar: the security system around this Sunday's vote therefore testifies to the magnitude of the issues surrounding this poll.

It is supposed to allow Somalia to turn the page on a long and chaotic electoral process which for more than a year has given rise to tensions, violence and divisions even within the security forces, as shown by the clashes that occurred in the capital in April of last year.

Intensification of terrorist attacks

According to many analysts, this crisis has therefore hindered or even paralyzed the fight against the Islamist Shebabs.

In recent months,

and consolidated their hold in parts of the country, even as the mandate of Atmis, the new African Union force adopted at the end of March, calls for a gradual withdrawal of international forces from here. end of 2024.

Somalia's electoral procrastination is also weighing on the country's economic future.

The International Monetary Fund has threatened to suspend its aid program, essential for the country's budget, if a new administration is not quick to resume negotiations, and carry out certain reforms.

• Many challenges for the future president

The first challenge for the new president will be to reconcile the Somalis, to reconcile the clans, so polarized is the country today.

The second thing to do will be to improve the relationship between the federal government and the Member States.

Under Farmajo, two out of five member states were fiercely opposed to him.

The new president must ensure that the entire federal map of the country works closely with him and vice versa.

The other big issue is security.

The agreement on the new African Union force, Atmis, was signed by a departing government.

In the eyes of many analysts, this text is too ambitious.

I think it will be necessary to renegotiate certain aspects of the text and to review its feasibility.

And then there is also the economic question.

The IMF and the World Bank are expecting a new finance minister to be appointed very quickly in order to resume discussions on the debt relief programme.

Otherwise, they threaten to suspend their aid.

But the new president will find it difficult to pay his civil servants and his security forces if these negotiations do not begin immediately.

Samira Gaid, director of the Hiraal Institute, specializing in security issues

Florence Morice

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• Somalia