MOGADISHU (Kaab TV) – Dr. Afyare Abdi Elmi, a distinguished Somali scholar and researcher specializing in conflict, security, and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on the Horn of Africa, has made a daring advise to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud today following a reported agreement of four opposition defectors to Hassan Sheikh’s camp.
Afyare wrote:
Mr. President, @HassanSMohamud
,The communiqué issued by your government and the splinter group of the opposition has the following three messages:
1. You will accept the revision of only five articles across four chapters of the new constitution..
2. You will keep the three legislations—the Electoral Law, the Political Parties Law, and the Election Commission Law—along with your current commissioners. This effectively implies a term extension, as these laws cannot be implemented within eight months.
3. You intend to engage with a splinter group of the opposition while avoiding or ignoring the broader opposition, including the Presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland.
Mr. President,
Let me be blunt.
The country must have a single, agreed-upon constitution. You abandoned it. It is time for you and your government to fully return to the 2012 Provisional Constitution. Picking and choosing provisions will not work. The four chapters changed many articles—including those on political settlement, levels of government, and resource sharing—through a sham process. Simply put, what is the constitution of the country?
Mr. President,
Your government has failed to complete the necessary groundwork for direct elections that are not based on the 4.5 formula, such as establishing security in the country and conducting a population census. No matter how the government rhetoric presents it, unfortunately #Somalia will once again use the 4.5 power-sharing and indirect elections.
Mr. President,
Neither the 2024 gerrymandered and poorly designed Electoral Law nor the one-sided Election Commission will serve the interests of the Somali people. This is a power grab.
Therefore, in my view, your government must negotiate with the opposition on an indirect election model. In addition to adhering to the 4.5 clan power-sharing model, the 2026 dispensation must meet the following criteria: inclusivity, feasibility, no gatekeepers (FGS & FMS), increased voter participation, and political agreement.
Mr. President,
Unfortunately, the personalized rule, misplaced priorities, and poor decisions and choices of your government have squandered time, resources, and opportunities. Your mandate is ending. You have only eight months left to at least leave the Third Republic in the same condition you found it in 2022. The sooner action is taken, the better it will be for Somalia.
Mr. President,
In short, the solution to the crisis is to fully return to the 2012 constitution and engage in negotiations with opposition leaders, Federal Member States (FMS) leaders not affiliated with your party, and other stakeholders in good faith for a timely dispensation in or around May 2026. This approach will help #Somalia avoid parallel political projects and illegal extensions.
Thank you