Somalia increases security ahead of capital’s local elections
More than 10,000 security personnel will be deployed across Mogadishu, Somalia, ahead of the city’s local election. According to Somalia’s security minister, this will mark the first direct poll in almost 60 years, reported by Arab News via AFP on December 26.
It comes seven months after voter registration was launched in a departure from the more indirect clan-based system established in 1969 under the rule of former dictator, Siad Barre. Due to take place on December 25th, Mogadishu’s local elections will be contested between 1,600 candidates for the 390 local seats. 400,000 citizens have since registered to vote.
According to reports, many hope that the elections will mark another positive development in Somalia, which has struggled with four decades of civil war, political upheaval, and terrorism. The ‘one-person, one vote’ system, initially proposed earlier this year, was postponed three times. Local elections will be followed by the country’s presidential elections next year, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud seeking a third term in power.
The local elections come at a period of political and social upheaval for Somalia. Mohamud’s government made the much-criticised decision to change the country’s constitution to address universal suffrage rather than seek popular consensus. This move has largely been derided by critics as an extension of power through the guise of democratic reform. Instead of deepening sovereignty, these measures merely concentrate power in incumbent politicians seeking to further entrench their hold on power. Mohamud has also been attacked for using the implementation of new laws, electoral actions, and selecting commissioners only approved by his ruling Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP), to take office.
Somalia’s lack of unity has also emerged as a defining factor in next year’s elections. Mohamud’s control only extends to the surrounding area of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab controls most of central and southern Somalia, where it has established local governance.
Maghrebi.org, Arab News via AFP
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