Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: SOMALIA on March 4 passed a new Constitution that will see lawmakers directly elected by the public for the first time. Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, speaker of the House of the People, the lower house of the Federal Parliament, announced that 186 members of the lower house and 37 Senators from the Upper House voted in favor of the new Constitution during a joint session.
“Today is a historic day, worthy of remembrance as our Constitution transitions from a provisional one to an official, lawful one,” Nur said. The new Constitution will be formally signed into law by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. It replaces the provisional constitution adopted in 2012, when more than 800 delegates adopted it at a conference in Mogadishu while the country was under a transitional government.
In recent years, MPs voted for the President, while clan heads and elders elected lawmakers in both the federal government and regional states. Described as “an historic victory” by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, the move was passed, despite a boycott by an opposition alliance.
“This becomes the first official Constitution Somalia has had since the civil war, after the federal parliament decided to vote and approve it,” said MP Mohamed Hassan Bulale. Sheikh Mohamud has been pushing for a new constitution and has said that elections will be held in June. But the new amendments extended his mandate by one year, indicating that the vote may not take place for 12 months. There are questions over Somalia’s ability to hold elections. Faced with a major insurgent threat from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab and a lack of infrastructure, the rollout faces significant logistical and security challenges.
Deeply fractured country
Somalia is also deeply fractured along state lines, with leaders in Jubaland and Puntland strongly opposed to efforts by Mohamud to centralise governance. The breakaway region of Somaliland, meanwhile, has run its own affairs entirely separately since 1991, and was recognised as an independent country by Israel in December.
