On 27 May, Somalia’s federal government and member states agreed to implement the 17 September Electoral Model. The United Nations Security Council welcomed this peace promoting agreement. Its 15 members commended and applauded Somalian leadership for prioritizing Somalia’s people, and stability.
According to UN News, this agreement aims to focus on the Somalia electoral path, and allows conducting elections within 60 days. Moreover, the elections agreement commits to holding “peaceful, transparent, inclusive, and credible elections.” This is to “respect the agreed-upon minimum 30% women’s quota in parliament”. After increasing tensions among political factions in Somalia, this agreement is the optimistic result of the summit conducted by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.
The UN Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, stated that “[S]omalia has come back from the brink of this worst-case scenario,” referring to the hardships of the election process. According to UN News, in 2020, the federal government and leaders of the federal member states agreed for clan elders to elect a parliament, under the 17 September Electoral Model. These parliamentary elections have also been delayed after the original schedule in December. Further, collaboration between the Federal Government and the leaders of its Federal member States in Somalia have also collapsed in early April. Hence, after enduring many hardships, the agreement to hold federal elections peacefully is a ray of hope.
The agreement’s proceeding steps appear critical. Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric de la Rivière urged their implementation by all stakeholders as a crucial “step towards the holding of a consensual and transparent electoral process.” This highlights the importance of implementing and adhering to diplomacy agreements to ensure peace. The Secretary-General also emphasized the “importance of dialogue and consensus” for resolving “issues that may arise during implementation.” As a conflict mitigating strategy, he also demanded that “credible election management bodies at the federal and state levels” be established “to conduct the process.”
World leaders, multilateral and international organizations should continue to welcome peace agreements worldwide. Peace treaties and agreements is the first step to achieving global peace. It is important to also understand that agreements should be adhered to and followed, in order to achieve global peace and stability.
