MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somali Parliament descended into chaos on Wednesday as lawmakers debated the approval of a controversial election commission, amid rising political tensions over the new one-person, one-vote system championed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The session was briefly disrupted when lawmakers from Jubaland staged a protest with whistles, halting proceedings for several minutes. Despite the disruption, voting continued, and the 18-member Independent National Election and Boundaries Commission was ultimately endorsed.
Speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe announced that the vote count stood at 169 in favor, 6 against, and none abstained during the hand-raise voting.
The committee will oversee both regional and federal elections, a point of dispute after Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe pushed for separate committees. Earlier this month, he organized an indirect election that led to his re-election, angering President Mohamud, who favors a unified system.
Federal MP Hassan Abdi Ismail accused the Speaker of blocking their constitutional right to file a motion against the election committee and a report on the government’s troop deployment from Mogadishu to Ras Kamboni in Lower Jubba, which he argued is part of Jubaland’s jurisdiction.
Being from Jubaland, Ismail claimed the government is using the military to push its political agenda and destabilize the region in retaliation for Madobe’s re-election. He warned that if this continues, they may have no choice but to turn Mogadishu into a militarized zone.
MP Mohamed Ano Noug criticized the Speaker of Parliament for pushing laws that favor the current leadership and questioned the feasibility of a nationwide election. He pointed out that Jubaland, Puntland, and Khatumo are excluded from the election reform, while Somaliland continues to seek independence.
Ano Noug also warned that President Mohamud is heading toward conflict with Jubaland, and possibly other regional states. “This is madness and will lead Somalia into chaos,” he said. He added that trying to implement a unified election within months is unrealistic, calling it a plan that “won’t work.”
Somalia is facing a political crisis as tensions have escalated since Monday, when President Madobe was re-elected in Kismayo, about 500 km from Mogadishu. The government of President Mohamud has declared Madobe’s re-election invalid and responded by deploying hundreds of Turkish-trained soldiers to the Lower Jubba region. The operation aims to remove Madobe from office and arrest him for allegedly violating Somalia’s unified electoral system.
