Somali president’s attempts to extend mandate increase government instability and civil war risks in Galmudug
The Somali government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud plans to hold a High Level Partnership Forum on 8 December in which it will apply for a three-year extension to its mandate.
This application is being supported by both the prime minister and the speaker of the federal parliament. The argument for the mandate extension is that it will be impossible to organise parliamentary and presidential elections as scheduled for August 2016, given the lack of progress in the ongoing Electoral Transition Consultation and Somalia National Consultative Leadership Forum (SNCLF). The SNCLF has suggested four options for election formats, which divide power along either political party, federal state, district, or clan lines.