Somalia’s President, Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially signed the new constitution Wednesday after the MPs from the bicameral parliament approved the constitution that had been amended. The President signed the new constitution of the Somali Federal Government in a ceremony held in the Presidential Palace-Villa Somalia. The signing ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Mr. Adan Mohamed Nur know as Adan Madobe, and the Speaker of the Upper House, Mr. Abdi Hashi Abdilahi. The signing of the president of the constitution makes it legal and must be used to govern the country, although it had sparked a controversy in regard to the process of completing the provisional constitution. On Thursday, the Speaker of Lower House of Parliament, Mr. Adan Madobe, announced, that the term in office of the Somalia’s government institutions will be a five-year term. This comes after the current government’s term in office set to expire in May of this year. He pointed out that they will be functioning one more year. Political stakeholders including opposition politicians, Puntland and Jubaland vowed that they will not accept to change the provisional constitution which was made in 2012. It is expected that the dispute will escalate in regard to the approval of the parliament and the President signing the controversial constitution. The MPs from the 11th bicameral parliament’s term in office will expire on April14, 2026 while the term in office of the current President will also expire on May 15, 2026. Government institutions that are currently functioning including the Parliament and the Presidential Palace-Villa Somalia were elected through the provisional constitution that had been recently changed, and clearly stated that the term in office of the parliament and the presidential palace will be four-year terms. Somali President, speaking at the signing ceremony of the national constitution, said that starting from today, the government will implement the new constitution, although he knows that it has created new divisions. The Presidential Palace-Villa Somalia and the opposition held talks to come to an agreement the type of elections that would be held in the country. The second thing that will spark a controversy will be to agree on the constitution that has caused a controversy. It is expected that the debate between the two sides will be protracted if the opposition will agree to come to the negotiation table. It appears that if the pressure from the international community works, the two sides will set aside the debate on the constitution, and will focus on to end the election squabble. Finally, this will pave the way for the current government to have a term extension that is all agreed upon in order to lead the country to elections.
