MADRID 24 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Parliament of Somalia has given the ‘green light’ this Saturday to its new electoral law, a “historic milestone” with which it reintroduces universal suffrage to “return power to the people” following the ‘one person, one vote’ voting system .
“This law will give the people of Somalia a voice to elect their representatives at the district, state and federal levels, which is why I thank you for returning the power of choice to the people,” said Somali Interior Minister Ali Yusuf Ali Hosh. after a vote that concluded with 169 deputies voting in favor, two against and one abstention.
In a statement, the head of the interior praised the approval of the new legal text, a “historic election” that places Somalia “one step closer” to the “important milestone” of achieving universal suffrage and which will be implemented in the country. by holding elections under the ‘one person, one vote’ mechanism, a system that has been out of use since 1969, when former president Siad Barre took power after a coup d’état.
This fact comes a week after Parliament itself passed several electoral laws, including the rules that will govern the next elections and the creation of an electoral commission, following an agreement reached at the end of October between Somali political leaders for a framework that would derive in the reintroduction of universal suffrage.
The aforementioned October agreement meant setting the municipal elections in June 2025, followed by the parliamentary elections in November of that year, and brought with it a postponement of the local elections, which should have already been held in June, as well as the legislative elections, scheduled for this month of November.
Currently, the country has an indirect system in which clans and regional parliaments elect their representatives to the federal Parliament, which, in turn, is responsible for electing the president. The current president, Mohamed Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May 2022 with this system, which he promised to reform to introduce universal suffrage.