By John Ikani
The March 15 deadline set by Somalia to complete elections for its lower house of parliament is likely to be unbeaten due to long-delayed polls and political disagreements in the East African country.
Presidents are indirectly selected by MPs but more than 50 seats in the legislature are yet to be filled as about 220 of the seats in the 275-member chamber have been occupied so far.
The development not only signals further delay in electing a new president but risks worsening the political crisis in the country occasioned by delayed elections.
Somalia has already missed several deadlines to conclude voting for the lower house of parliament since February last year.
The missed deadlines are not unconnected to wrangles over the composition of electoral boards and political mistrust between President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.
President Farmajo, as he’s popularly known, was elected in 2017 but has struggled to fulfil key promises including fighting al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab, which controls many parts of Somalia.
He had also pledged to fight corruption, but his critics say much of that has not been achieved.
In February, Farmajo marked the beginning of his second year in office without a legal mandate to govern.
