Somalia says it will hold elections in 2027

Critics say unilateral decision to call polls is a recipe for more conflict. Save Share Somalia’s election commission has announced that parliamentary and presidential elections will be held in the country next year. Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, chief of the Independent National Elections and Boundaries Commission (INEBC), made the announcement on the state broadcaster on Thursday, saying that elections for members of parliament for both the lower and ‌upper ‌chambers are planned for April 15, 2027, followed by a presidential vote scheduled for May 15. A statement by the electoral body said the vote to elect a president was in accordance with a rule “which stipulates that the president’s term of office is five years, beginning on the date the president is sworn into office”. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s second term – starting in 2022 – ended earlier this year, but his government declared a “transition period” through a constitutional amendment in May, despite an agreement with the opposition to hold elections. Opposition parties boycotted that vote to amend the constitution and have rejected the changes since. Mohamud is pushing to hold party-based elections to replace a system of electing established clan elders, but his attempts have been opposed by critics, who call his move a power grab. Former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo called the decision to hold elections a “dangerous threat to Somalia’s statehood and future” in a post on X, and urged an agreement with all factions before a decision can be made on the polls. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, another former president, who was previously a leader of the opposition, warned that a “contested [electoral] process could lead to parallel elections” and even “civil conflict”, according to the AFP. Meanwhile, the government welcomed the polling date announcements as an “important stage … towards reinforcing the country’s democratic system” and called on all parties to engage with the process, peacefully “in good faith”. “There’s no political agreement to hold those elections,” analyst Samira Gaid told the AFP news agency. “All the processes that the government is starting are leading to further fragmentation,” she said, adding that the government was essentially made up of Mogadishu and “two or three allied member states”. Elections, Gaid said, would lead to “conflict and more confrontation within the remaining federal member states”....