Efforts to Amend the Provisional Somali Constitution Stalled by Opposition

[Deeq A.]

President Mohamud (left) finds it hard to carry on with his plan to have the provisional constitution amended with the help of Lower House Speaker Adan Madobe (middle) and Abdi Hashi, the Speaker of the Upper House.

Mogadishu (PP News) — A plan by the federal government of Somalia to complete the amendment of the provisional constitution” completely did hit a snag”, according MPs and Senators familiar with the matter. The federal government has withdrawn its efforts to bring the proposal to amend more articles of the federal constitution before the bicameral legislature after MPs and senators who initially supported it turned against the plan. One MP who opposes the “illegal amendments” said that the intention of the Somali Presidency to finalise the constitutional amendments before August 2024 has faced significant hurdles.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is contemplating how to overcome these obstacles. A senator, who requested anonymity, told the Puntland Post reporter in Mogadishu that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud “is facing the dilemma of either withdrawing the constitutional amendments or risking a constitutional crisis that could add at least two more years to his tenure, which is set to expire on 15 May 2026”.

Recently, Mustaf Dhuxulow, an MP, accused President Hassan Sheikh of adopting the political “doctrine of Isaias Afwerki.” Many parliamentarians and senators believe that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud committed treason when he allowed for the return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia in 2014 and when his government signed a defense and intelligence-sharing agreements with Ethiopia in 2023. “President Hassan Sheikh prioritises term extension triggered by the failed attempt to amend the federal constitution,” said a retired lawmaker in Mogadishu.

© Puntland Post, 2024

The post Efforts to Amend the Provisional Somali Constitution Stalled by Opposition appeared first on Puntland Post.