Rift between Somali president, prime minister sends mixed signals: Experts

JOHANNESBURG

A growing rift between Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble is sending the wrong signals to citizens and the donor community, an expert said Wednesday.

Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, and Roble publicly disagreed Wednesday over which security team should oversee the security of the election process for the speaker of the influential 275-member lower house in the capital Mogadishu.

The president wanted the police to supervise the security, but Roble ordered the African Union peacekeeping force to take charge. The two leaders made their counter decisions via media statements.

“They are sending mixed signals which end up confusing citizens and the donor community as to where power really is vested,” Dr. Mustafa Mheta, a senior research fellow and head of the Africa Desk at the Johannesburg-based think tank Media Review Network, told Anadolu Agency.

Relations between Mohamed and Roble have been frosty for some time. Last year, the presidency announced that Mohamed had suspended Roble and halted his duties as he was allegedly linked to corruption.

Roble, however, instead accused his boss of not wanting to hold credible elections after postponements.

Several development partners of the troubled Horn of Africa country including the US asked the two leaders to end their tensions.

“What Somalia needs at the moment is leadership. There is a constitutional mandate that needs to be done, that of holding elections,” Mheta said.

He said the government is behind schedule in holding elections, which is very dangerous in a young democracy like Somalia, which is very volatile in nature given its background of civil wars.

“Failure to provide leadership can easily lead to bloodshed on the streets, a development that is undesirable,” he said.

“Whatever people may think, I think the leadership needs to find each other for the sake of the country and its people. Somalia needs them both to deliver even a much deeper democratic environment,” he said, adding that would be the greatest Eid gift for this great country, referring to the upcoming Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Disagreement over election model

Abdurahman Sheikh Azhari, director of the Somalia-based think tank Centre for Analysis and Strategic Studies, believes there is no row between the president and prime minister.

“The current disagreement between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) leadership started soon after President Farmajo appointed Roble as prime minister to succeed Hassan Ali Khayre, the longest-serving prime minister,” Azhari said.

Khayre and Mohamed previously clashed over the election model, including when and how the election process and procedures would be completed.

“Prime Minister Roble continues the policy of his processor to disagree with the president regarding the direction of the elections which evolved to create a huge mistrust between the offices of the president and prime minster and later become a public clash between them,” he said in an interview with Anadolu Agency.

Mohamed wanted a “one-man, one-vote” universal suffrage system rather than the clan-based, indirect ballots of the past. In Somalia, delegates appointed by clans choose members of the lower house who later elect the president. The 54 members of the Senate, representing the country’s five regional states, also take part in the presidential vote.

“Khayre and Roble alongside other political stakeholders believe indirect elections are suitable currently for Somalia, as the country is still recovering from the civil war effect and still, clans need to go through real reconciliation,’’ Azhari said.

The academic said Somalia is not ready for direct elections because large parts of south-central Somalia are still under the control of the militant group Al-Shabaab. He said the country’s constitution is also still provisional and needs to be completed before it gets a popular referendum. ​​​​​​​

Azhari however, noted that the election of the speaker of the lower house of parliament expected this week will renew the democratic process, which might lead to the final conclusion -- the election of a president.