By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Somalia’s parliament has voted in favour of a constitution amendment that extends their tenure of office and that of the President, the parliament speaker and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud confirmed, shifting planned elections by a year.
In a voice vote on Wednesday, 222 lawmakers from the parliament and senate out of a total of 329 voted for the constitution amendment, extending their term and that of the President to five years, from four years previously.
“Today is a historic day for it is the official completion of the constitution which had dragged for a long period,” President Mohamud told a press conference on Wednesday.
With no strong central government since the fall of autocratic ruler Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has faced prolonged arm conflict.
While an African Union peacekeeping mission has pushed back the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group responsible for the security concerns, it still controls vast areas of the countryside and has the ability to conduct regular strikes on major population centres.
In August last year, President Mohamud had reached a deal with some opposition leaders, stating that while the parliamentarians would be directly elected in 2026, the he would still be chosen by parliament.
A 2024 law restored universal suffrage ahead of the vote. Opposition party leaders, including former Presidents and former Prime Ministers rejected the amendment and called for elections in May as planned
