Why Somali polls are critical for the country and Horn of Africa
Monday November 16 2020
A Somali polling agent (right) explains the voting procedure to a voter before she casts her ballot in Baidoa during a past election. PHOTO | AFP
Somalia has already unveiled the plan for the upcoming 2020/2021 national elections. According to the schedule, parliamentary elections both for Upper and Lower Houses will run from December 1 to 27, 2020, while presidential elections will be held on February 8, 2021.
For several months, the country has been thrown into a complex impasse regarding the modalities of voting; particularly, whether to adopt a universal suffrage of one-person-one-vote or to uphold Somalia’s traditional clan-based delegate voting system.
The announcement which came after a tediously-sought agreement between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member States (FMS) to continue with the clan-based delegate voting model, now paves way for an election season that promises to have a heated competition.
Alongside President Mohammed Abdullahi Farmaajo who is seeking a second term, several senior politicians including the immediate former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, former finance minister Hussein Abdi Halane, and key opposition figures are positioning themselves for the presidential race.
Although it remains to be seen who among these contestants will win the elections and take the mantle of leadership, it is important to underscore the criticality of the upcoming elections not only for Somalia’s quest for security, stability, and national development but also for the entire Horn of Africa region’s prosperity.
The current administration under President Farmaajo has been criticised for being lackadaisical in addressing Somalia’s most pressing needs for security, political stability, institutionalism, a reliable justice system, and socio-economic development. To date, Somalia still operates on a provisional constitution drafted nearly a decade ago during Sheikh Sharif Amhed’s reign. President Farmaajo has failed to steer the country towards achieving common ground in formulating and effectively passing a constitution to guide the country’s politics and institutional building.
For most of Farmaajo’s term, the country has been convulsed in a chronic center-periphery tension between the FGS and FMS over the autonomy of states, obviously at the expense of the country’s security and stability. The supremacy battle between Farmaajo and Madobe (President of Jubbaland) in particular, has been detrimental to the country’s overall security given the clashes by security forces and opportunistic tendencies of the Al-Shabaab.
Other than the ability to launch large-scale attacks in several regions across the country including in Mogadishu, Al-Shabaab has reclaimed several regions in Lower Shebelle casting a grim reality on the country’s progress in the fight against the militia group.
It is important that the Somalis elect a leader who can champion national unity as well as nurture the socio-economic and political healing of the country.
The next president needs to be one who will focus on achieving security priorities, particularly containing the Al-Shabaab. Other than familiarity with the everyday politics in Somalia, the next president should be one who understands and is committed to the key development needs of the country; building unity, creating stronger institutions, steering socio-economic development, and achieving national cohesion. These priorities are not only critical to the reconstruction process of Somalia, they are also central to the peace, security, and stability of the Horn of Africa region.
The writer is a peace and development professional and researcher at the HORN Institute