Somalia's Farmaajo frustrates electoral process

Somalia currently has no legitimate national authority. The mandates of the federal institutions expired in February and cannot constitutionally be extended. 

But there has been a political understanding that the incumbents remain in office pending an electoral process to establish a new parliament and government.

The president of Somalia's constitutional term limit expired in February, and he has since been using foreign-trained security forces to cling to power. 

The electoral process is months behind schedule, as Somalia's outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has been systematically frustrating the process at every turn and trying to manipulate the election model for his benefit.

In addition to the electoral process, insecurity remains a significant challenge. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group has already vowed to make matters worse.

Somalia was meant to choose a new president this month, culminating a complicated indirect election process that would also select a parliament. But that was halted during a dispute between President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble over who would head the National Intelligence Service Agency.

Roble and Farmaajo clashed in April when the president unilaterally extended his four-year term by two years, prompting army factions loyal to each man to seize rival positions in the capital, Mogadishu.

Farmajo's four-year mandate expired in February, but was extended by parliament in April, triggering deadly gun battles in Mogadishu, with some rivals viewing it as a flagrant power grab.

Analysts say the election impasse has distracted from Somalia's larger problems, most notably the violent Al Shabaab insurgency. The al Qaeda allies were driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago but retain control of swathes of countryside and continue to stage deadly attacks.