Somalia's cabinet approved a bill that, if confirmed by parliament, will revert the country's election system to universal suffrage for the first time in decades, ending a process of indirect voting.
Somalia's cabinet endorsed legislation to allow a one-person-one-vote election system earlier this month.
The law aims to replace a complex clan-based indirect voting system that has been in place since 1969, when the dictator Siad Barre seized power.
"The national elections law will direct the country to (hold) one-person-one vote elections," Somali government spokesman Farhan Jimale told a media briefing on 8 August.
"(This) will give the citizens the power to vote and elect for the first time after 55 years. It is a historic day" he said.
Islamist insurgency
Under the current political system, which faces widespread insecurity caused by an Islamist insurgency and weak state structures, it's the lawmakers who vote for the president, while clan heads and elders elect lawmakers in both the federal government and regional states.
Somalia was scheduled to move to direct voting in 2020, but squabbling among politicians and persisting insecurity across the country forced the government stick to the indirect ballot.
Plans for universal suffrage were first announced last year by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, following a National Consultative Forum set up to discuss political reforms, with the system to be introduced with nationwide local ballots initially due to take place in June this year.
Its roll-out faces significant logistical and security challenges because of the lack of infrastructure and threats from al- Shabaab, an Islamist militant group which maintains control over large swathes of the country.
Amendments
On 30 March, a package of constitutional amendments was approved by both chambers of the Somali parliament. These are designed to significantly change the office of the president.
Currently, the Somalia has an indirect indirect electoral system, where clans select the members of the parliament, which in turn picks the president.
Under the new system, the president will be directly elected under a system of universal suffrage and the term of office will be extended to five years from the current four.
The president will now have the authority to dismiss the prime minister, previously a power held by the parliament.
Weak points
Moreover, the amendments foresee in the creation of a multi-party system with three political parties, but critics say there are considerably weak points.
The amendments also include references to children's rights, setting the ‘age of maturity’ at 15, but New York-based Human Rights Watch says that this "puts children at risk".
Somalia joins the East African Community, but questions remain over security
"Somalia’s parliament should resist efforts to weaken constitutional protections for children, especially girls," said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on 29 March.
But overall, the time to implement political change seems ripe. According to the Global State of Democracy Initiative, "over the last five years, Somalia has maintained stability, experiencing no notable changes in performance."
But, the group says, "economically, the country remains one of the poorest and most corrupt in the world, and has been classified by the United Nations as a "least developed country."
