Somalia's elections calendar released after lengthy negotiations

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The leadership of the federal government of Somalia, the federal member states, and the Banadir region administration have agreed on the elections calendar, which will be implemented as part of settling the electoral crisis in the country.

For the last year, stakeholders have been wrangling on the model, calendar, and nature of elections, which were first supposed to be held from December 2020 in compliance with an agreement that was first reached on September 17, 2020.

But on Tuesday, the dates for elections were released, effectively ending the long wait for the upcoming polls. The Office of the Prime Minister which is responsible for the coordination of the polls released the calendar after rounds of talks.

From July 25, the country will hold elections for Upper House members [Senators], which are scheduled to go on until August 10 this year. Thereafter, the country will pick Members of Parliament [Lower House] from August 10 to September 10 this year.

On September 20th, the MPs and Senators will pick the House leadership team which is critical for the conduction of business in the house. Currently, Mohamed Mursal is the Speaker of the Lower House while Abdi Hashi is the Speaker of the Senate.

After this rigorous parliamentary leadership contest, the bicameral house will elect the next president of the federal republic of Somalia. The election has been scheduled for October 10, over nine months after the expiry of Farmajo's term.

Farmajo's term official elapsed on February 8 but he has been trying to cling to power, at one point, signing a two-year term extension which was condemned by dozens of stakeholders, forcing him to immediately withdraw after being reprimanded by the international community.

The 275 MPs and the 54 senators will make the important decision, but the number of Senators might increase due to pressure to allocate the Banadir region a number of seats. In Lower House, stakeholders are discussing how to achieve the women quota in parliament.

Elections for Upper and Lower House members will see delegates participate, in the indirect model which has been agreed by stakeholders. The country has yet to hold direct elections since 1969, but Somaliland, a breakaway region, managed to conduct the universal suffrage polls in May.

Farmajo is facing opposition from among others, former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud along with former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. Wadajir Party leader Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame is also in the race but there is a likelihood that the team will field a single candidate.

GAROWE ONLINE