From promise to practice: Mogadishu’s vote and Somalia’s democratic turning point |
When the people of Mogadishu went to the polls to elect their local council, Somalia quietly crossed a historic threshold. For the first time since 1960, citizens cast ballots through universal suffrage—not as members of clans represented by elders, but as individuals exercising a fundamental democratic right. In a country long defined by indirect elections, negotiated power-sharing, and elite bargains, this moment deserves reflection not only as a political event, but as a profound shift in national consciousness.
Two years ago, as Somalia embarked on the contentious yet necessary amendment of its provisional constitution, I argued that reform carried the potential to return power to the people—to replace nepotism with merit, and elite selection with public choice. That assertion was grounded in hope, but also in historical realism. Somalia’s indirect electoral model, while once a stabilising compromise, had increasingly alienated citizens, particularly the youth, from governance. Leadership too often flowed from lineage rather than legitimacy.
The Banaadir local council election is the first tangible proof that constitutional reform was not an abstract........