By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Somalia says it will phase out indirect voting method for office of the President, where only lawmakers voted by clan heads and elders elect the country’s head of government.
The government also announced on Sunday that the position of prime minister will also be abolished from next year.
Indirect voting has persisted in the Horn of Africa country in the last three decades, a country battling Islamic insurgency.
The country had initially been scheduled to revert to universal suffrage in 2020, but protracted squabbles among politicians and persisting insecurity across the country forced the government to retain the indirect ballot.
“Starting next year, there will be a one person, one vote election held every five years,” said a statement tweeted by Somalia’s state media SONNA.
“The Premier post will be abolished and replaced with a presidential system, where the president and vice president are elected directly by the people on a single ticket.”
The decision was reached after a four-day meeting in the capital Mogadishu, chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. SONNA did not say who else participated in the meeting.
Only two political parties will be allowed to compete in the polls, according to the statement.
Nationwide local council elections, the first poll under the new system, will be held in June next year while voting for regional lawmakers will take place in November 2024, according to the statement.
Mohamud, who has a five-year mandate, was elected in May last year by lawmakers.
