MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s parliament on Wednesday greenlit the 18-member National Electoral and Border Committee, appointed by the cabinet just a day earlier, during a tumultuous session fraught with chaos and uproar.
Speaker of Parliament Adan Mohamed Nur announced that 169 members voted in favor, while 6 opposed, thereby ratifying the Federal Electoral Committee, which the government intends to oversee one-person, one-vote elections for both regional and federal presidents slated for late 2025 and 2026.
In the aftermath of the session, opposition MPs told the media that the parliament lacked the necessary quorum to approve the committee, denouncing the speaker’s claims as false and asserting that, as a result, no approval had been granted.
Amid the escalating tensions between the federal government and Jubaland, one MP warned that if the federal government continues its military deployments aimed at toppling Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe, they will open a new front in Mogadishu, though he refrained from specifying whether it would be military or political in nature.
The appointment and approval of the electoral commission comes just days after Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe secured a third term in a controversial indirect election, fiercely opposed by the federal government, which remains steadfast in its commitment to holding one-person, one-vote elections nationwide—a vision increasingly questioned by many, given the federal government’s limited control and the pervasive insecurity that continues to afflict the country.
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