Somalia’s new electoral rules are creating unforeseen fissures in the loose alliance between some federal-state presidents and opposition groups.
The rules, under a new framework for electing members of the Lower House effectively, took away the influence of the traditional clan elders, who initially used to select delegates to vote for MPs. As it was in 2016, each clan has registered elders who select delegates.
A caucus of opposition presidential aspirants known as the Council of Presidential Candidates have rejected the change, saying it violates the voting structure in the agreed indirect election, where clans were to retain powers on deciding delegates to vote for seats allocated to their group.