After a delay of more than a year, Somalia elected a new president on May 15, 2022. Thirty-eight men and one woman competed for the top job, including incumbent President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (widely known as ‘Farmaajo’). Ultimately, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who previously served as the President of Somalia from 2012 to 2017, gained 68% of the parliament’s votes.
The election came at a critical time as the United Nations warned earlier this year that the country was suffering its worst drought since 1981, threatening some 4.5 million Somalis with starvation and leaving an additional 2.1 million in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. More than 700,000 people in Somalia have already been displaced by three consecutive failed rainy seasons.
Delayed vote
Outgoing President Farmaajo’s term expired in February 2021 although he was allowed to remain in office until May 2022. One of the reasons for the delay in holding the presidential election was that several of Somalia’s states had delayed holding local elections to choose delegates for the House of the People and the Senate.
At the same time, political instability in the country deepened amid growing tensions between the then President Farmaajo and Mohamed Hussein Roble, whom the former suspended from the post of Prime Minister following accusations of corruption. Roble described his suspension as “unconstitutional” and accused Farmaajo of attempting to delay the presidential election and of seeking to stage “an open coup attempt”.
All of this was coupled with continuing insecurity marked by clashes between the al-Shabaab extremist group and the federal Somali government which is supported by peacekeepers from the African Union. The ‘hangar’” as it is known locally, a fortified compound near Mogadishu’s international airport where the presidential election took place, had been attacked by al-Shabaab suicide bombers just days earlier in a suicide bombing that left two government soldiers dead.
Outside pressure
Growing frustration in Washington led to several attempts to speed up the election process. In February 2022, the United States announced that it would restrict issuing visas for any Somali official that it believed was “undermining the democratic process” by delaying elections. The UN and its international partners also put out a call for Somalia to hold elections as quickly as possible.
However, what seemed to have been the most effective step to put a temporary end to the feuding between the clans and allowing the presidential election to finally take place was the International Monetary Fund declaring that it would stop supplying financial support if no new government was elected by the end of May 2022. Somalia’s federal government is chronically underfunded and depends on foreign donors to supply $10 million every month just to cover salaries.
Indirect democracy
The last nationwide election in Somalia took place in 1969. Since 1991 the country has faced a civil war, witnessing deep fragmentation and anarchy. In 2004, Somalia managed to create a federal government tasked with securing its transition to a representative government. This did not happen without the involvement of influential local clans because everything from parliamentary seats to ministerial posts is decided by the clan-based model. One of the key features of Somalia’s clan-based power-sharing model is that the country has successfully experienced a peaceful transfer of power six times since 2000.
With international backing, Somalia has radically overhauled its structure several times in an attempt to facilitate peaceful transfers of power. Under the current system, clan elders vote for 14,025 delegates who in turn elect 275 MPs into the parliament’s Lower Chamber. Meanwhile, Somalia’s individual states send 54 delegates to a Senate or Upper Chamber, and then the Representatives and Senators elect the President.
New President’s stance
Voted into office by 214 representatives and senators, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud became the first Somalian President to secure a second term. He promised to transform Somalia into “a peaceful country that is at peace with the world”, adding, “our priority is to move the country forward together and we no longer want political grievances after elections… We want to solve all the outstanding issues through dialogue and in a peaceful manner.”
Short after the election, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged the President to undertake “serious efforts of reconciliation” and security, economic and political reforms. For its part, the United States announced the redeployment of U.S. troops to Somalia to help the authorities to combat the al-Shabab militant group.
Mohamud’s pledge for peace comes at a time when the country is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as 70% of Somalia’s 16 million people live under the poverty line, that is on less than US$1.90 a day. However, even with the backing of American troops, Somalia’s new President has a long road ahead of him as the country is besieged by widespread drought, famine, and terrorist attacks.
