Somali government is peppering for a one-person, one-vote election process to elect Mogadishu’s district commissioners by June next year, months after the National Consultative Council agreed to reshape the country’s political system.
Minister of Interior Federal Affairs and Reconciliation Ahmed Moallim Fiqi has announced that the Banadir region will be the first area where universal suffrage elections will be held, with elections for the South West state to follow.
Minister Fiqi stressed the government’s commitment to resolving the ongoing land disputes that have persisted since the time of the central government.
In May of last year, the National Consultative Council, which comprises federal leaders, four regional leaders, and the mayor of Mogadishu, introduced direct elections for the following year and unified the election schedules. They also endorsed the establishment of a presidential system for the country.
Local council elections are set to take place on June 30 of next year, followed by regional parliamentary and regional leadership elections on November 30. The leaders had agreed that only two political parties would compete for power in the country. It’s worth noting that the current political parties law does not limit the number of political parties.
However, several prominent politicians, including former Presidents and Prime Ministers, strongly opposed the decisions of the NCC, arguing that leading the country should be based on consensus.
