Again, Somalia postpones presidential election

Somalia’s top political leaders have announced the presidential election will be held on 28 December, the fourth date so far set to conclude drawn-out, delayed and limited polls.

The new timetable was laid out in a joint statement issued by the government, the leaders of Somalia’s federal states and the election body.

It said parliamentary elections – under way since October – must be completed by 14 December with the election of speakers of the lower and upper houses on 22 December and the vote for a new president on 28 December.

The original promise of a one-person, one-vote national election was abandoned in 2015 due to insecurity, political infighting and lack of basic requirements such as an electoral roll.

Instead, an electoral college system has been instituted whereby 135 traditional clan elders chose 14,025 delegates who are voting for each of the 275 parliamentary seats, distributed according to clan. The 54 seats in the new upper house were distributed by region.

However, voting has been marred by corruption allegations and other irregularities.

The initial proposed date of August 2016 was missed with the presidential vote rescheduled for September 10, October 30, November 30 and now December 28.