The announcement from Villa Somalia on Sunday that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had invoked an executive order to the 2016 electoral model operational has drawn mixed reactions from across the political divide.
While some see it as outright act of usurping powers not accorded to the Office of the President, others view the President’s move a prudent out meant to save the country from an endless political circus, which was bound not to produce tangible results.
Kulan Party Secretary General Abdiqadir Barnamij said Parliament was already moving in the wrong direction by “unnecessarily creating a political debate with no end”. He also accused the leadership of Parliament led by the Speaker Osman Jawari for failing to provide leadership on the process.
“The leadership in Parliament was just apathetic and dragging its feet on endorsing the electoral process within the agreed timelines. It was therefore necessary for the President to strike this decision and we as a party endorse it,”said Barnamij. But Federal MP Abdullahi Godah Barre dismissed the President’s decree terming it unconstitutional and dictatorial. He observed that the President should be held accountable for his actions, which amount to gross violation of the law.