Politics

Somalia to abolish indirect voting under a new suffrage legislation

Published

3 months ago

August 20, 2024

Somalia’s cabinet approved a bill that, if passed by parliament, will reintroduce universal suffrage for the first time in 55 years, marking the end of indirect voting, as stated by the government’s spokesperson Farhan Jimale.

Amid significant insecurity due to an Islamist insurgency and unstable state frameworks, presidents have been elected by lawmakers, who do clan heads and elders choose themselves.

Somalia has had five governments through indirect dispensations since 2000, although it has not held one-person, one-vote elections. 2017 saw the government of Somalia start a debate about selecting an electoral system for the nation.

The bills have to be approved by parliament and signed into law by the President. Should it be carried out, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud would be the last leader chosen indirectly through polls set for 2026.

Although the nation had planned to move to direct voting in 2020, political unrest and ongoing insecurity resulted in the indirect voting system being kept in place.

Having had its last direct elections in 1967, Somalia has suffered decades of instability as the central government in Mogadishu struggles to control areas of central and southern regions.

The reform follows President Hassan Sheikh’s fresh promise last year to use a direct universal one-person, one-vote system. This week, one of the states in the nation already scheduled a vote with universal suffrage.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

16 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.