In Somalia’s political scene, the revolving door is brutal and not even presidents can be safe, Every sort of election held in and out of Somalia since the fall of Siad Barre has often produced a new leader, their legitimacy notwithstanding….
In modern times, when Somalia started settling down in 2009, all the three elections held since have returned a new president, becoming the only country in the Horn of Africa not to re-elect a sitting head in the new millennia.
Yet analysts told the Nation that the country’s problems a decade ago are still the same, three presidents later. These include insecurity, lack of a permanent constitution, a broken justice system, poverty and generally weak institutions.
President Mohamed Farmaajo, the incumbent, has been faced with criticism for failing to address these issues. Now he is facing people he defeated years ago. The opponents, it appears, are riding on a new wave of fear among the Somali public of just how bad or good it could turn if they vote in a new face. They have also united in a common alliance known as the Forum for National Parties, led by former president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
One-term presidents
“In the recent political history of Somalia, there have been one-term presidents. It would be beneficial to see a president re-elected,” Mohamed Abdirizak, a senior director at consulting firm FDG-Synergy in Nairobi and who was once an advisor to President Farmaajo, told the Nation, Somalia as a country that is emerging from civil conflict, he argued, needs to integrate, grow its economy and address security.
“Somalia needs a President who can nurture the socio-economic and political healing process of the society, a president who can deal with the difficult political settlement issues, a president who will make security a priority. Somalis have a good sense of who they want to lead their country, but they have to be given a chance to elect their leaders,” he said in an interview on Friday.
