Farmaajo running major risks by extending presidential term
Outgoing Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has put himself in an awkward position by extending his presidential term by two years.
The president's move could open
the door for civil war in Somalia.
Farmaajo signed the extension
into law on April 14, taking ongoing disputes over the presidential elections
in his country as an excuse.
However, the extension pits
Somalia against donor states which vehemently oppose this move.
The Somali government and the
heads of the different Somali states are locked in a conflict over the
presidential elections mechanism. The same conflict caused the postponement of
the elections more than one time in the past two months. No date has been set
for the elections until now, even as an agreement was reached on the elections
in September last year.
Somali legislators voted for the
extension on April 12, in their bid to put an end to the ongoing crisis in
their country.
Nevertheless, the Somali Senate
described the extension and the law regulating it as "unconstitutional".
Farmaajo welcomed the lawmakers'
approval of the law. He said his government would enforce it.
The law, Farmaajo said, would
give Somalis their right to directly elect the president back.
He called on Somalis to grab this
opportunity by participating in the political process in their country.
Farmaajo thanked what he
described as "Somalia's friends" for their support to the democratic
process in the African state.
Fears
There are fears across Mogadishu
from a backlash from Farmaajo's decision inside the security and military
establishments. Somalis are just afraid that the extension will be a prelude to
the elimination of the political process in Somalia as a whole.
The extension bypasses
international warnings and demands by the Somali opposition for holding direct
elections.
Farmaajo's presidential term came
to an end in February this year. The Somali opposition said it does not
recognize him as a president of the country after the end of his term.
