The speaker of parliament said 140 MPs supported the return to the September accord that will allow indirect presidential and parliamentary elections.
Somalia’s lower house of parliament unanimously voted to restore a deal reached last year that will allow the country to hold indirect elections.
Last month, parliament voted to extend President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s term by two years and for the country to hold future elections under a one-person, one-vote system.
The move, however, was rejected by the Senate, the Prime Minister, opposition leaders and four of the country’s six federal member states, leading to a stalemate in the capital, Mogadishu.
On Saturday, President Mohamed Mursal said 140 MPs had voted for the reinstatement of indirect polls on the basis of the September 2020 agreement, without any lawmaker raising an objection.
In an address to parliament shortly before the vote, Mohamed, popularly known as Farmaajo, called on lawmakers to support the return to the deal.
He also said that he had asked Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble to “lead the process of preparation and implementation of the electoral process, including the main electoral security arrangements to ensure that the elections take place in a peaceful atmosphere. and stable ”.
Farmaajo’s failure to hold legislative and presidential elections before his term expires in February is at the heart of the current crisis facing the country.
Farmaajo and the federal states agreed in September to hold indirect elections before the February 8 deadline, in which special delegates chosen by Somali clan elders choose lawmakers who in turn choose the president.
Somalia has not held direct one-person, one-vote elections since 1969, and repeated efforts to hold one have been scuttled by security concerns or a lack of political will.
The indirect model has already been used. This time, it was about going further in terms of inclusiveness, with double the polling stations and almost twice as many delegates voting than in the last election in 2017.
But it never got off the ground, as hostilities between Farmaajo and the Puntland and Jubbaland rulers derailed the plan.
The two key states accused Farmaajo of stacking very important state and federal election committees with loyalists. The central government rejected their alternatives, with no party agreeing on who would provide security on polling day.
