A presidential term has expired, and Somalia's political future is now caught in a tense standoff. A group of opposition voices is speaking out loudly against what they describe as a one-sided electoral commission, one put in place by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud himself. Their position is firm: the commission lacks legitimacy from the start.
The statement, carried by Shabelle media, includes a strong condemnation of what is being called a unilateral decision by that commission. Critics are not mincing words. They argue that a body shaped by a president whose term has already ended has no business making sweeping decisions about the country's electoral process.
At the heart of this is a question Somalia has wrestled with before: who gets to decide the rules of the game, and who is left out of that conversation? When the people meant to oversee elections are seen as partisan, trust in the outcome becomes almost impossible to build.
The road to a credible election in Somalia has always been complicated, and this latest flashpoint suggests the path ahead is no clearer. How the country's political actors respond in the coming days will say a great deal about whether dialogue is still possible.
Originally published by AllAfrica.