The election of a Somali-US national as the country’s new president in a vote held in an aircraft hangar, Mogadishu brought some atmosphere of hope and sense of trust in Villa Somalia, with many Somalis imagining a new dawn to the fight against Al Shabaab, the end of the over two decades of conflicts and the human right situation in Somalia that will propel country towards the much needed unity that has deluded the country for long.
On 8 February 2017, thousands of Somalis quickly took to the streets and cheering soldiers from the Somali army fired into the air to celebrate the election victory for Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
But on 6th June 2020, chaotic scenes visited the Somali Parliament as some MPs interrupted speech by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo at the opening of the 7th session of Somalia’s federal parliament in Mogadishu. These events have led to some political experts questioning if this was a signal of the impending election loss and end of Farmajo presidency.
That is the state of affairs in Somalia today, the MPs who voted Farmajo into power now turning on him, not in a civilized way either, but when people have had enough this is what it looks like, this is why the government did not allow any independent media into Villa Hargeisa.
Following the chaos in parliament, Farmajo’s spokesman went on to release statements in defense of his boss, statements that almost sounded like Saddam’s minister of info (Said Sahaf- known as Comical Ali or Baghdad bob) hours before regimes’ downfall.
Opposition lawmakers held a press conference after the parliament reopening ceremony said that president has failed to address public grievances, the massacre of aid workers in Bal’ad and said his speech was misleading.
Some of the unpopular actions by the incumbent includes the move to register a new political party that will enable the team to run for re-election.
An application regarding details of the new political party, which insiders say might be named after the President Farmajo’s government main slogan ‘Nabad iyo Nolol’ or ‘Peace and Life’, is now with the office of the Chairperson of the National Independent Elections Commission (NIEC), Ms Halima Ismail Ibrahim for registration consideration.
While it is not yet clear if President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire are on the same page pertaining to the country’s electoral model as well as the formation of a political party representing the government, Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Gulaid is anticipated to be selected as the party’s interim chairman.
Members of Somalia parliament spoke out against President Farmajo, accusing him of bringing Ethiopian troops into the country & using security forces to kill civilians.
In August 2019 after two and a half years in office, it was announced by the Presidential office that President Farmajo intended to renounce his U.S. citizenship. No reason was given which prompted speculation as to why. During his time in office, the U.S. has dramatically increased airstrikes against Al-Shabaab, re-established the American diplomatic presence in Somalia, and presented Farmajo with a trucker cap that said “Make Somalia Great Again.”
Farmajo’s administration has serially ignored the rule of law & harassed, arrested journalists activists, deployed security services to intimidate political opponents. And unforgivably sanctioned the killings of hundreds of unarmed civilians on multiple occasions.
Democracy died under Farmajo when he used money to unseat Speaker Jawari, killed people in Baidoa, attacked Kismayo for clan motive by using the national army and he never brought one single agreement with other countries to the parliament.
