Somalia's president accused of plot to extend term

MOGADISHU, Somalia - President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is non-committal towards overseeing elections and possible transition, Wadajir party has said, terming Saturday's address to bicameral parliament "a great disappointment" to the people of Somalia.

Farmajo, who is facing a re-election puzzle due to stiff internal politics, addressed the joint sitting of Senate and Lower House, his last constitutional mandate before the polls, during the opening of the 7th session of parliament in Villa Hargeisa.

In his address, Farmajo backed the universal suffrage model for the upcoming elections, insisting that "this will allow Somalis to pick their leaders democratically without coercion from any quarters". Somalis, he added, "must be prepared to choose leaders on ballot box".

The president described a clan-based system commonly known as 4.5 as "problematic", adding that it's the "source of unending conflicts" within Somalia. With the help of international partners, he added, his administration was hell-bent on holding democratic elections.

But in a rebuttal targeting Farmajo's speech, Wadajir, which is one of the leading opposition parties under the stewardship of Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, accused the president of sending a message of "tension, confrontation, intimidation, and confusion".

Farmajo, the party added in a statement, "Had attempted to cover his leadership failures and inability to achieve national priority goals". The statement comes just three days after the address which saw a section of MPs heckle Farmajo in parliament.

Shortly after the address, a team of those supporting the administration thronged into the streets of Mogadishu praising the FGS, followed by government critics who blamed the regime for "failing to deliver its mandate". The demonstrations lasted for a couple of hours.

Some of the priorities the administration has failed to deliver according to the opposition party include "creation of a national army capable of defeating terrorism and taking responsibilities from the African Union forces".

The AMISOM team, which comprises of close to 20,000 troops, is set to exit Somalia in 2021 under the Somali Transition Plan. But before the exit, the team has been training and equipping Somali National Army [SNA] troops, who have been battling Al-Shabaab militants in the country.

Last week, Farmajo had hailed the forces for exhibiting "incredible professionalism" while executing their duties, adding that "we will not recruit forces from clans, it will be a bad precedent that is purely unhelpful to our people".

The administration, Wadajir insisted, was also not ready to transition from clan-based model to universal suffrage system of elections, citing the limited time and inadequate preparations as the major obstacle to the delivery of the polls.

And the party now accuses Farmajo of using the "unachievable" model as a route towards unconstitutional term extensions despite the fact that the mandate of parliament and executive ends tentatively in October this year.

"He insulted the intellect of the nation by insisting on the possibility of delivering one-person-one-vote model and ignored to organize dialogue," reads the statement in part, in reference to calls to have a national conversation.

"He made it clear that he doesn't want elections and is ready to extend his term he has chosen the future of darkness, conflict, and distrust which will erode our gains. The party calls for an urgent meeting to rescue the country."

The international community has endorsed the universal suffrage model despite resistance from the opposition team.

Last month, Forum for National Parties, a conglomerate of six opposition parties, asked the government to retain a clan-based model for the upcoming elections, adding that the changes should be used in the next cycle of elections after 2020/21.

A proposal by the parliamentary ad-hoc committee on elections which is set to be tabled in parliament for debate had also reportedly recommended a one-person-one-vote model, calling for immediate voter registration ahead of the planned elections.

Later on this month, the National Independent Electoral Commission [NIEC] will give a comprehensive election calendar that will be tabled in parliament for discussion. The electoral body is yet to start voter registration exercise.

Wadajir party is also pushing for the formation of the Judicial Service Commission and the constitutional court as a strategy to introduce an independent judiciary in Somalia. The country has been without a functional government for almost three decades.

GAROWE ONLINE