State Minister for Foreign Affairs Slams HirShabelle Leader Over ‘Illegal’ Vote in Balcad

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar Balcad has accused HirShabelle President Ali Gudlawe of flouting a major national deal on electoral reform by organizing what he termed as an illegal vote in Balcad district, Middle Shabelle.

The disputed vote took place on Sunday, despite the local administration’s term having expired and just as Somalia moves towards a long-awaited one-person, one-vote election system.

“What happened in Balcad is a direct violation of both national agreements and federal law,” said the minister in a statement posted on his official Facebook page. “It undermines the current voter registration drive and threatens to destabilize communities that have remained peaceful.”

Balcad pointed to the May 2023 National Consultative Council (NCC) agreement, which set out a roadmap for moving Somalia away from the clan-based system of indirect voting. That agreement was endorsed by the federal government and all regional leaders, including Gudlawe.

The minister urged Gudlawe to follow the lead of other regional presidents such as Galmudug’s Ahmed Qoor Qoor and South West’s Abdiaziz Laftagareen—who have publicly registered to vote under the new system.

“At a time when the country is uniting around electoral reform and voter registration is underway, it’s alarming to see Hirshabelle clinging to outdated practices that risk stirring up clan tensions,” he said.

Somalia is preparing to hold its first universal suffrage election in decades, replacing a long-standing system where clan elders and delegates chose political representatives. The reform is widely seen as a crucial step toward greater democracy and accountability.

Balcad warned that unilateral moves like the one in Balcad not only threaten national unity but could also trigger local conflicts and derail the fragile progress made so far.