Elections in Somalia will be held from 2024 on the principle of "one person, one vote", the government and federated states announced Sunday in a landmark agreement ending a complex and controversial indirect electoral system.
This new voting system, which has not been applied since 1969 in this country of the Horn of Africa, will enter into force for the local elections scheduled for 30 June 2024, before the elections to appoint the parliaments and regional presidents of 30 November 2024. "The election in the Federal Republic of Somalia must give the people the opportunity to vote democratically according to the principle of 'one person, one vote'. The electoral system must encourage a multi-party political system, which must be independent, peaceful and free of corruption," the agreement said.
With the exception of the breakaway region of Somaliland, this independent country since July 1960 has not had elections by universal suffrage since 1969, a few months before the dictator Siad Barré took power. The last elections were held under a complex indirect system, based in particular on clans, which is a fundamental component of Somali society.
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This system was a regular source of tension and instability that, according to many observers, benefited the insurgency of radical Islamist Shebab that has bloodied the country since 2007.
In the next presidential election scheduled for 2026, voters will also elect a "ticket" consisting of a president and vice president, a provision that implicitly ends the post of prime minister to establish a presidential system.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, elected in May 2022, promised in March that the next national and regional elections would be held on the principle of "one person, one vote". A first step was taken last week at the local level, with district council elections held on this principle in the northern state of Puntland, which was cited as an example by the international community.
The agreement was reached at a meeting of the National Consultative Forum, which brought together President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre and the leaders of the federated states. The President of the State of Puntland, although a member of this Forum, was not present to sign the text.