Somalia: 7 political parties created for first time in 50 years

In a political breakthrough in Somalia, seven political parties were registered yesterday in a bid to move away from clan politics, Goobjoog News reported.

“We have to create political parties that will compete in the elections that will take place in the country in order to move away from the system of 4.5 to one person one vote.  We succeeded in this process and today we temporarily registered seven political parties,” the National Independent Electoral Commission chairperson, Halima Ibrahim, said referencing the clan based political power sharing arrangement.

The 4.5 clan based system is based on equal power distribution among four of the most powerful clans. The remaining 0.5 is distributed to the less affluent tribes and would be allocated remaining seats in government.

BREAKING: Somalia hits a landmark w/ official launch of registration of political parties for the first time in nearly 50 yrs. The political party system will replace current clan-based power sharing system. 7 parties received accreditation from Independent Electoral Commission.

— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) December 3, 2017

The new parties are required to be based in the capital Mogadishu and have some 10,000 constituency members.

Some 50 years has passed in Somalia without any form of multi-political parties within the government.

Read: Straight talk on Somalia’s insecurity