Wednesday October 6, 2021
By Mohammed Omar Ahmed and Simon Marks
Presidential elections in Somalia that were due to take place on Oct. 10 will be rescheduled, a postponement that’s likely to compound divisions among the country’s political elite.
“Everyone sees there will be a delay in the presidential elections,” federal government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim said on Tuesday. “The specified date will not be met.”
Ibrahim attributed the postponement to administrative problems during the lead-up to the plebiscite and didn’t specify when it will eventually happen. The vote was originally scheduled for February, and the initial delay triggered violence amid a plan for President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to remain in power until it took place.
Tensions between the president and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble have also increased of late over the death of a female Somali intelligence officer. Roble has accused the president of failing to investigate the death of Ikran Tahlil, an agent who the nation’s intelligence agency said was killed by al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked group. The insurgents deny any involvement in her death.