What does the Farmajo-Roble deal mean for election delays?

The country has missed its election deadlines this year due to the political crisis pitting Farmajo against his PM Mohamed Hussein Roble.

News Keydmedia Online
24 October 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia - In August 2021, relations between the outgoing President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble reached a low point as Somalia was going through a critical juncture of the electioneering period. 

Political tensions escalated after Farmajo announced in August that he had reduced the powers of the prime minister, opposing the removal of Fahad Yasin and the security minister Hassan Hundubey Jimale. The sacked officials both were close allies to the president.

Their dismissal which shocked the nation came following the murder of Ikran Tahlil, a senior intelligence female agent who was the head of the NISA's cybersecurity department. She went missing on June 26 after being abducted from her house around the presidential palace in Mogadishu.

Farmajo tried to cover up Tahlil's assassination within the spy agency by her bosses while the PM worked around the clock to find justice for the girl whose family filed a lawsuit against Fahad Yasin, NISA's ex-boss, his deputies Yasin Farey and Abdullahi Kulne in the military court. No defendant was brought to justice so far.

After the tug of war and power struggle have heated up, Southwest State leader Abdiaziz Lafta-Garen began a mediation last week which led to a deal between Farmajo and Roble on the issues of the dispute, including the NISA leadership, Ikran Tahlil murder case, and the security minister.

The political experts believe the agreement is an opportunity to speed up the ongoing parliamentary elections, which have been delayed several times this year due to the standoff and lack of cooperation in the country. The international community has been in despair and fed up with the endless disputes in Somalia among the stakeholders.

They said zero-dispute is the key to a peaceful, inclusive, and timely election in Somalia. It remains suspicious that Farmajo will materialize his promises in the pact as he failed in the past.

Farmajo was the biggest setback to the election for months after failing to extend his mandate by two more illegal years early this year, thanks to the national salvation forces who rejected his bloodless coup in the country and forced him to hand over election and security responsibility to PM Roble in may.

KEYDMEDIA English