Photo credit: Horn Observer
Somalia has been mired in civil strife since the central government collapsed in 1991, after a series of uprisings against the then-military dictatorship.
Time reports that successive Somali national governments have tried ever since to build up the state’s capacity, strengthen democracy, and extend its territorial control. However, none of them has managed to temper bruising, deadly fights over power and resources.
The current administration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is preparing for national elections in 2026 by pushing through controversial plans to change the electoral model that it says are necessary to improve the system. But opposition politicians and the states of Puntland and Jubaland are opposing these plans.. They say they are designed to bolster the president’s re-election and extend his time in office. This is causing paralysis and threatening to spill over into violence.
Notorious Islamist groups like Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State are also on the offensive.
Donors who have sustained one of the world’s oldest states are therefore growing impatient.
Elections are due by May. Mohamud wants to cancel the current system. The system in 2921 saw a mere 28,000 voters in a country of 15 million choose the country’s politicians. The government has already established an electoral commission and has begun to register voters. But time mis running out and many observers argue that the only practical way to hold timely elections is to keep the old system.
The dispute has largely remained peaceful so far. However, both sides are increasingly jumpy in the capital. Two people were killed in late September after rival security units clashed following a visit by opposition politicians to a local police station.
