Former President Rejects Opposition Election Plan: “Do Not Waste Your Time”

Mogadishu(WDN) — Somalia’s political standoff over the country’s next elections intensified dramatically on Saturday night as former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivered one of his strongest and most uncompromising statements yet, dismissing alternative electoral proposals and insisting that only a one-person, one-vote election will determine Somalia’s future leadership.

Speaking at a farewell ceremony for former Speaker of Parliament Aden Mohamed Nur (Aden Madoobe), who was recently elected President of South West State in a contested election boycotted by oppositions, Hassan Sheikh appeared to direct much of his remarks at the opposition-led Future Forum, which only hours earlier had publicly unveiled a new electoral framework that it says could be implemented within months and help prevent a constitutional crisis.

The Hassan’s response left little room for interpretation. Visibly irritated by the growing momentum behind the opposition proposal, Hassan Sheikh declared that Somalia would not return to indirect electoral arrangements or any other model that falls short of universal suffrage.

“There will be no election in this country other than one person, one vote,” the President said. “Do not waste your time. Nobody will govern the Somali people unless they are chosen by the Somali people.”