President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has pledged to deliver universal suffrage and a permanent constitution, accusing past administrations of sidelining the country’s provisional charter for 14 years in favor of backroom political deals. He promised the Somali people that he would end the 4.5 clan-based system.
The African Union mission AUSSOM has welcomed peaceful local council elections in Mogadishu’s Benadir Region, calling the first direct local vote since 1969 a major step in Somalia’s democratic transition.