Interior Minister Briefs the 135 Clan Elders on New Electoral Laws as their Role in Elections is Phased Out

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The Ministry of Interior hosted the 135 clan elders who have been instrumental in Somalia’s electoral process for over two decades now as the new electoral models now end their role.

Interior Minister Ali Hosh briefed the elders on the passage of the three election-related laws by the Federal Parliament in recent weeks. In the last two months, both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament have passed the Elections Act, Political Parties Act and the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission Act.

The passage of the laws now paves the way for a shift from the clan-based electoral system to multiparty democracy. The Elections Act stipulates that the President and leaders of the Federal Member States will be elected under the First-Past-the-Post or Winner-Takes-All model while lawmakers and regional parliamentarians will be elected through open and closed list systems under the Proportional Representation Model.

Since the formation of the first post-civil war government in 2000, the 135 elders drawn from all sub-clans in Somalia have been electing MPs who subsequently elect a new president. Their roles have however been watered down over time.

In 2012, the elders selected MPs who later elected a new president but in 2016, they selected delegates who would later elect MPs. A similar scenario played out in the 2021/22 elections.

With the passage of the new laws, Somalis will now directly elect their leaders from the lowest to the highest levels.