PREVIEW
Thirteen dead and 12,500 people have been displaced after the president's contested term extension triggered the capital's worst political violence in years
Order appeared to have been restored – at least temporarily – on 5 June when the Federal Government in Mogadishu stated that two days of clashes between government and opposition forces had ceased. ‘Opposition group militias have been disarmed and removed, and civilians have returned to their daily lives,’ said the Ministry of Information in a statement.
The root of the violence is a bitterly disputed constitutional and electoral reform process which failed to reach consensus. One of the most contested amendments extended the presidential term by a year, allowing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to remain in office until May 2027 (AC Vol 67 No 5, Constitutional talks collapse). Opposition politicians have gathered under the umbrella of the Somali Future Council to demand that general elections should swiftly be held following the end of parliamentary terms on 14 April and the presidential term on 15 May.
Opposition parties say that the year’s extension, obtained after19 opposition MPs were suspended for 12 sessions, is an illegal power grab, while Hassan Sheikh argues that the extension gives him a legal mandate to stay on.
The SFC also want to return to the 2012 constitution and repeal the ‘one-person, one-vote’ electoral law, reverting to Somalia’s recent past of indirect elections. The fighting started close to the house of former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in central Mogadishu, and then spread to the north of the city close to a property belonging to former president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Both are opponents of Hassan Sheikh and say that government forces opened fire close to their houses.
The UN refugee agency said at least 13 people were killed and 189 wounded, and that some 12,500 households fled during the fighting. Hassan Sheikh may have the numbers to stay in power and win an election. But more fighting could step up pressure for a compromise deal.
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