Deadline for Somalia’s parliamentary election was set for Tuesday, March 15th but the country failed to meet it again, and will have to wait to elect its President after a delay of more than a year.
The Somali government had last month extended deadline for the appointment of members of the lower house to March 15th only to go hush on Tuesday, with no election .
According to AFP, the federal states of Galmudug and South West had finished the election of their representatives, but 40 of the 275 seats were left not filled. Three states – Jubaland, Puntland and Hirshabelle were yet to decide their representatives.
Without the lower house elections concluded, there will be no appointment of the President according to Somalia’s complex system. In the system, federal and state assemblies and delegates taken across various clans in the country choose members of the parliament who go on to decide who becomes President.
Armed Clashes and Delayed Exits
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Somalia’s President who is also known as Farmajo has been President since 2017. His term had since expired in February 2021 but there were no plans in place for an election to choose a new President.
In April 2021, Farmajo announced an extension of his term by two years, a move that was criticised by the American government and other Western partners of the country. The move also caused a violent reaction in capital city, Mogadishu.
The President had appointed Somalian Prome Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble to conduct the electoral process but both men soon crossed paths, leading to a delay in the appointment of the President.
Al Shabaab has also been great enemies of the country, masterminding terrorist attacks mostly in the capital city, Mogadishu.
The repeated postponement of elections has led to furious reactions in Somalia and from the international community, some of whom have held back their aids until the country’s leadership issues are settled.