Roble adds new voices to Somalia polls talks
Saturday January 08 2022
Protestors of Somalia’s President Mohamed Farmaajo in Mogadishu, last year. Somalia, is yet to hold its General Election that had been planned for last February. PHOTO | AFP
New Somali political voices are now involved in consensus building to break the election delays, with Prime Minister Hussein Roble seeking input from activists and women groups to steady an electoral calendar that is already overdue.
This week, civil society and representatives of women’s groups were invited to be part of the Somalia National Consultative Council (NCC) in Mogadishu.
The activists are the second group to be admitted into the NCC meeting. Other members are the five presidents of the federal states of Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, South West and Jubbaland, and the mayor of Mogadishu.
Prime Minister Roble had earlier met with members of the opposition groups under the caucus of the Council of Presidential Candidates (CPC). The group has been critical of Somali President Mohamed Farmaajo’s alleged interference in the electoral programme, including the controversial suspension of Prime Minister Roble on December 27; the prime minister defied it. President Farmaajo had accused PM Roble of failing to conduct the polls on time, after federal states delayed holding Lower House elections.
But PM Roble says the problem is systemic, and that he is collecting views to ensure the calendar is not disrupted again.
The civil society members have asked for the process to be sped up, credibility to be improved, and correction of what has gone wrong so far.
Spokesman of the FGS Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu said, “The leaders focused on the planned agenda items that included the manners of correcting election irregularities.”
On Tuesday, the NCC welcomed diplomats from international partners who support Somalia’s state building.
The diplomats were led by the UN special representative to Somalia James Swan, flanked by UK ambassador Kate Foster and the acting US ambassador Colleen Grenwelge. Also present were envoys from Turkey, China, Qatar and Ethiopia.
Speaking on their behalf, Mr Swan said, “The international partners urge the NCC to ensure that the elections are credible so that Somalia can focus on other priorities such as security and development.”
On September 17, 2020, the NCC then chaired by President Farmaajo agreed to hold a clan-based indirect elections in Somalia, having failed to hold a one-person, one-vote universal suffrage.
However, a series of squabbles over how to implement the agreements and related mechanisms almost derailed the process.
Nevertheless, an NCC meeting led by PM Roble who took charge of the elections via a transfer of authority by Farmaajo led to a landmark agreement on May 27 2021, scheduling an electoral timeline that will conclude the election of the 54 Upper House members and 275 legislators to the House of the People, a parliamentary chamber also known as the Lower House, to be concluded in 60 days, effective May 28, 2021.
The designed approach was the parliament of each state to elect the allocated senators to the Upper House followed by each member of the Lower House to be elected by 101 delegates selected by respective clan elders.
Contrary to the ambitious timetable, the first senator was elected on July 29, over two months after the timeline was announced. The last senator of the 54 senators was elected by the parliament of Galmudug State on November 13.
Somalia’s electoral calendar did not just suffer delays, but also allegations of irregularities and abuse of powers by the presidents of the federal member states. These federal leaders have ultimate powers in nominating candidates and some contenders have accused them of eliminating those seen as rivals or supporters of rivals.
The CPC led by former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed have been vocal in pointing out mistakes and had earlier criticised PM Roble for poor electoral leadership. They even hinted at the possibility of forming a parallel administration, a National Salvation Council, to conduct elections.
Abukar Abdurahman, a Mogadishu-based intellectual and property developer, told The EastAfrican that Somalis, particularly in Mogadishu, are holding their breath, hoping that the ongoing NCC meeting will fix the election issues.
President Farmaajo’s term expired on February 7, 2021 but he had to remain in office, albeit as a care taker, because of lack of legislators to elect a new president or reelect the incumbent.
The activists are only the second group to be admitted into the NCC meeting this week. Other members are the five presidents of the Federal member states of Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, South West and Jubbaland plus the mayor of Mogadishu.
Mr Roble had earlier met with members of the opposition groups under the caucus of Council of Presidential candidates (CPC). The group has been critical of President Mohamed Farmaajo’s alleged interference in the electoral programme, including the controversial suspension of PM Roble on December 27, which the PM defied. Farmaajo had accused Roble of failing to conduct elections on time, after federal states delayed holding Lower House elections.
But Roble argues the problem is systemic and he is collecting views to ensure the calendar is not disrupted again.
The civil society actors asked for the process to be speeded up, credibility to be improved and a correction of what has gone wrong so far.
The spokesman of the FGS Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu later briefed the media and said, “The leaders focused on the planned agenda items that included the manners of correcting election irregularities indicated by the civil society actors and women activists.’’
On Tuesday, the NCC welcomed top diplomats from the international partners who support Somalia’s state building.
The diplomats were led by the United Nations’ Special Representative to Somalia James Swan, flanked by UK ambassador Kate Foster and the acting US ambassador Colleen Grenwelge. Also present were envoys from Turkey, China, Qatar and Ethiopia.
The partners say they want timely and credible elections.
Speaking on behalf of the diplomats, Mr Swan said, “The International Partners urge the National Consultative Council to ensure that the elections are credible so that Somalia can focus on other priorities such as security and development.”
The NCC is blamed for not sticking to the terms of the electoral agreements and implementation mechanisms reached in 2020 and 2021.
On September 17, 2020, the NCC then chaired by President Farmaajo agreed to hold a clan-based indirect elections in Somalia, having failed to hold a one-person, one-vote universal suffrage.
However, a series of squabbles over how to implement the agreements and related mechanisms almost derailed the process.
Nevertheless, an NCC meeting led by PM Roble who took charge of the elections via a transfer of authority by Farmaajo led to a landmark agreement on May 27 2021, scheduling an electoral timeline that will conclude the election of the 54 Upper House members and 275 legislators to the House of the People, a parliamentary chamber also known as the Lower House, to be concluded in 60 days, effective May 28, 2021.
The designed approach was the parliament of each state to elect the allocated senators to the Upper House followed by each member of the Lower House to be elected by 101 delegates selected by respective clan elders.
Contrary to the ambitious timetable, the first senator was elected on July 29, over two months after the timeline was announced. The last senator of the 54 senators was elected by the parliament of Galmudug State on November 13.
Somalia’s electoral calendar did not just suffer delays, but also allegations of irregularities and abuse of powers by the presidents of the federal member states. These federal leaders have ultimate powers in nominating candidates and some contenders have accused them of eliminating those seen as rivals or supporters of rivals.
The CPC led by former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed have been vocal in pointing out mistakes and had earlier criticised PM Roble for poor electoral leadership. They even hinted at the possibility of forming a parallel administration, a National Salvation Council, to conduct elections.
Recently, President Farmaajo issued statements blaming Roble for the election delays, labeling him inefficient and corrupt.
In retaliation, Roble countered a letter of suspension issued by Farmaajo on December 26, accusing the president of orchestrating ‘’a coup’’ to overtake the office of the prime minister and the Cabinet, following accusations that a special security unit from Villa Somalia, had surrounded his office, albeit for few hours, on December 27.
Abukar Abdurahman, a Mogadishu-based intellectual and property developer, told The EastAfrican that Somalis, particularly in Mogadishu, are holding their breath, hoping that the ongoing NCC meeting will fix the election issues.
President Farmaajo’s term expired on February 7, 2021 but he had to remain in office, albeit as a care taker, because of lack of legislators to elect a new president or reelect the incumbent.