Elections

Gamal Reelection

Gamal’s Uphill Battle For Re-election

After weeks of an uphill battle, Gamal Hassan, the Somali Minister of Planning, saw his candidacy to represent his clan in the Federal Parliament blocked. The controversial announcement made yesterday by the Puntland Electoral Commission put an end to his re-election bid. Puntland’s State Election Implementation Team (SEIT) has published the much expected list of […]

Read More
Elections

How The Looming Deadline Reveals The Ugly Truth Of The Indirect Election

There are two days left to conclude Somalia’s parliamentary election as the February 25 agreed deadline approaches. With 70% of the 275 seats filled, politicians are resorting to dirty tricks to get their allies elected. Interestingly, the looming deadline revealed the ugly truth about the indirect election. For the past few days, things have been […]

Read More
Week Observer

Week Observer: January 7 – January 15

Elections 2021 Jan 15 The Federal Election Implementation Team (FEIT) elected Mr. Muse Gelle Yusuf as its new Chairman following a secret ballot eclipsed by political pressure and vote buying. Gelle, the former Puntland’s Bari region governor, was supported by Said Abdullahi Deni and Prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble. He is expected to sway FEIT decisions […]

Read More
Drought Kids queuing for water

Somalis Expect Leadership As Drought Hits Hard

Somali regions from north to south and east to west are struggling with severe drought characterized by lack of rain, low rivers and declining pastures. So far, the disaster has displaced up to 200,000 Somalis seeking humanitarian assistance in other areas. Worsening Humanitarian Crisis According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs […]

Read More
PM Roble and the opposition

Will Roble Give In To Opposition Demand To Halt Elections?

Following the hubbub from an opposition group on the conduct of the federal elections and foreign diplomats supporting these latest grievances, Prime Minister Mohamed Roble is seeking support to respond to the opposition demand to halt the elections. The dozen “potential” presidential candidates, united under the Council of Presidential Candidates (CPC) headquartered at the Jazeera […]

Read More
Gamal Hassan

Gamal Hassan’s Eventful Passage Through Puntland

In recent days, the Somali public has been outraged by the harassment Gamal Hassan, the Federal Planning Minister, suffered upon arriving at Garowe Airport, Puntland, on his way to his hometown of Badhan, in the Sanag region.

Read More

The Somali Election Games Series

The Election Games series is an ongoing Somali genre that mixes scripted and unscripted real-life political intrigue. Most of the players featured in this male-dominated series are Somalis and are real politicians, warlords, mercenaries and foreign handlers operating from the shadow.

Read More

Reactions to Presidential Decree to Limit Prime Minister Roble’s Powers

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” sanctioned Prime Minister Mohamed Roble by suspending some of his executive power, after it came to light he was seeking to deepen the ongoing political crisis by firing additional ministers and high ranking security leaders.

Read More
Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble

How Roble Prepared For His Coup Attempt

Few people expected that Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, described as a peacemaker for his apparent neutrality and his apolitical past, would be at the origin of this new crisis.

Read More

How Farmajo Failed The Nation

In the following paragraphs, we are examining recent Somali elections history to explain how Somalia has failed to hold free, fair and peaceful elections under President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s watch. The role the president played in this failure and how his political gullibility helped his rivals achieve their agendas is well documented. First of all, […]

Read More