A new Somalia will be born in 2024. The country has launched an overhaul of its political system, with an agreement signed Sunday between the government and the federated states providing for the introduction of universal suffrage and the transition to a presidential system.

This agreement aims to fulfil the oft-repeated but never fulfilled promise of voting on the principle of "one person, one vote" next year, for the local elections scheduled for 30 June 2024, before the elections to appoint regional parliaments and presidents on 30 November 2024. With the exception of the breakaway region of Somaliland, this fragile country in the Horn of Africa, independent since July 1960, has not had elections by universal suffrage since 1969, a few months before dictator Siad Barré took power.

Until now, elections have been conducted under a complex indirect system, built around the myriad clans and sub-clans that make up Somali society. This system was a regular source of tension, power struggles and instability that many observers said benefited the insurgency of radical Islamist Shebab that has bloodied the country since 2007.

Promise kept

Elected in May 2022, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud promised last March that the next national and regional elections would be held on the principle of "one person, one vote". A first step was taken last week in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, where district council elections were held on this principle. This election was welcomed and cited as an example by the international community.

"In order to harmonize the elections of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the country will adopt a system of president and vice-president. The president and vice president will be elected on a single ballot (...) on the basis of the multi-party system," the agreement announces. This "presidential ticket" system implicitly puts an end to the post of Prime Minister. The next presidential election is scheduled for May 2026.

Local council elections will serve as the basis for national elections, which will be held on a "proportional with closed list" basis. "The two political parties with the majority of votes [in local elections] will be national political parties that will compete for seats in parliament and the president," the agreement explains.

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