Somali Presidential Candidate Vows to Fight Corruption and Al-Shabaab

 


Franco-Somalian business leader Abshir Aden Ferro has urged Somalia to put off parliamentary elections for at least four years, warning that holding polls in December could drive the country into the hands of the al-Shabaab terror group.

Ferro, a candidate in Somalia's February 2021 presidential election, sounded the alarm on Monday even as parliament endorsed a new delegate voting system paving the way for an indirect election.

"This system is a threat for security. Electing the parliament now will see a full house of al-Shabaab," he told RFI.

Parliamentary polls are due to take place on 27 December and would see voters choose between 27,775 delegates picked from across five federal states.

The change falls short of the original target of holding universal suffrage, a key campaign promise of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmajo.

His mandate was to get one man, one vote, he had four years and he failed," Ferro tells RFI.

But the real problem lies elsewhere.

"The way the system works in Somalia is that the deputy or MP has to buy his vote from the chief tribal leader, it's not for free. (...) We've even heard about a seat being bought for as much as $1 million. So that is corruption," he said


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