Defence Minister Fiqi Urges Citizens to Register for Elections

GOOBJOOG NEWS | GALKAYO: Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi has urged citizens across the country to register for the upcoming elections, saying widespread participation is essential to restoring the nation’s long-denied democratic rights.

Speaking after receiving his voter card at a National Independent Electoral Commission centre in Galkayo, Fiqi said the registration process gives Somalis the opportunity to choose leaders who will genuinely represent their communities at district, state and federal levels.

Fiqi called the moment “historic,” noting that generations of Somalis have been unable to vote in a direct election for more than five decades.

“Elections are a constitutional right that have been absent from the hands of the people for 56 years,” he said. “Today that right has been restored to the citizens of Somalia. I encourage every Somali, wherever they live, to go out and register so they can decide their own future.”

He said broad public participation is the foundation of the one-person-one-vote system the government aims to implement, adding that national progress depends on citizens taking part in the democratic process.