Somali president overrides parliament on election process
In what likely is a new showdown between Somali president and the parliament, Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud used an executive order and called for an election in Somalia, bypassing the parliament which delayed the vote process submitted by the government last month.
The country’s outgoing parliament has delayed a vote to approve the election process multiple times, with the last one being on Saturday, raising concerns by the international community over the protracted process for the forthcoming presidential elections.
Speaking at a press conference in Mogadishu Sunday, Mr. Mohamud announced that the country would hold an election in line with a recent deal by the country’s stakeholders to hold timely elections in the country.
Held in Mogadishu in April, the national consultative forum which sought ‘guiding principles’ to enable the transfer of power when the government’s mandate expires in 2016.
The country’s major donors including European Union and the United States warned that failure to act quickly would ‘jeopardize’ the Somali political process and set Somalia several years back.”
According to Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, adopted in 2012, the mandates of the Somali Federal Parliament and of the government would come to an end in August and September 2016, respectively.
The international community which is spearheading efforts aimed at restoring peace and order into the Somalia which is recovering from decades of war mandated the current government to lead the country into general elections following the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a new parliament and the adoption of a new constitution in 2012.
