Mogadishu (PP Opinion) — Somalia has entered the election season. The deal on the electoral model paved the way for presidential elections that will take place in February 2021. Adherence to the electoral timetable depends on how Federal Member States cooperate with the Federal Government of Somalia.
Last week, Prime Minister Mohamed H. Roble wrote to Federal Member States about the missed deadline to submit names of joint electoral commission members . The statement from the UNSOM issued today seems to have thrown a spanner in the works. UNSOM emphasises “the need to ensure the country’s political space remains open.”
“A vibrant political space is one that permits and encourages the participation of all segments of society – individual citizens, the media, civil society, public institutions, and political parties, among others. A democratic society must allow different viewpoints on political issues to be expressed openly, free from restriction or harassment” the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan was quoted as saying.
The electoral agreement is based on the 4.5. power-sharing formula. A multiparty system and the divisive power-sharing system are incompatible. The Agreement tasks the Federal Government and Federal Member States with preparing Somalia for elections. Why did Mr James Swan resort to rhetoric that amounts to a call for duplication to accommodate political parties in a country that has not embraced political parties yet?
Somalia is not a democratic country. The very 4.5 power-sharing system relegates almost half of Somalis to a lower citizenship status. UNSOM chief’s statement about the Somali political system is disconcerting and patronising. The return to an electoral model that militia-owning Somali clans unveiled twenty years ago in Djibouti reflects a political setback that deepens the suffering of Somali social groups known as Others.
The UN statement on Somalia elections should not have sounded as an attempted spin on the political reality in Somalia. Impartiality and level-headed diplomacy prevent political bias in a country slowly recovering from state collapse.
© Burhan Mayal, 2020
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