Mogadishu (KAAB TV) – Senator Abdi Qaybdid rejected the electoral process of person and vote, which the Federal Government of Somalia proposed to be implemented in Somalia in 2026.
“Galmudug State Government will only hold an agreed national election. The stakeholders of the Galmudug State Government will work together on this matter,” said Senator Kebdiid.
He criticized President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s regular trips abroad. “It is not appropriate to travel from one country to another in a short period of time. I call on the two chambers of the Federal Parliament to be vigilant and observe the wrong path that Somalia has taken,” he added.
Senator Qaybdiid, a former Somali Police Chief, is the first senator to publicly oppose the controversial election process.
The Federal Government of Somalia has said that it will implement this process in some parts of the country, with the exception of the Puntland State Government, which is the first regional government that was implemented in Somalia in 1998.
Qeybdied’s statement comes as the federal government is doing everything to make this election happen, including extending the term of office of state leaders, which it described as a necessary step to promote electoral reform and transition to the “one person, one vote” system.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the government, Salah Ahmed Jama, said that this extension, which was concluded at the last meeting of the National Consultative Council, is part of the federal government’s plan to align the country’s political calendar, so that the elections at all levels different at once.
“The extension of the period is a necessary step to divert from the indirect election process, which is based on the clan system, and we have been practicing it for seven years now,” Mr. Jama told reporters in Mogadishu.
Politicians who oppose the government process have also expressed strong concern about the time taken, insisting that the political differences between the federal government and the regional authorities, which have not been officially resolved, may cause further delays or even that they can incite further conflict.