MOGADISHU: Somalia's constituent assembly endorsed yesterday a draft constitution billed as a key step to ending decades of civil war.
The Horn of Africa country's outgoing government hailed the end of an eight-year interim period but the UN warned that the transition's next steps were being threatened by "spoilers" in Somalia's fractious political class.
"We are very happy today that you... responsibly completed the procedure by voting for the constitution," Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali told members of assembly after it approved the draft by a landslide 96 percent.
"I announce that Somalia has from today left the transitional period." The special assembly — chosen by traditional elders in a UN-backed process — took eight days to debate and vote on the new constitution, as the graft-riddled government approaches the end of its mandate on Aug. 20.
"This is an historic day — today we have witnessed the completion of a task that has been worked on for the last eight years," said Abdirahman Hosh Jabril, Somalia's constitutional affairs minister.
"This morning around 645 members of the constituent assembly gathered, and fortunately 96 percent of the members have voted for the new provisional constitution."
Shortly before the vote, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates after they were stopped by security forces, killing only themselves.
"Security forces stopped their ambitions of attacking... they were shot and then they detonated their vests," Interior Minister Abisamad Moalim told reporters, adding that one security guard was wounded in the blast.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which follows a string of explosions including roadside bombs and grenades that have rocked the Somali capital, many carried out by the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab.
Key steps in the fragile political process remain, including a new Parliament to be selected by traditional elders, with that Parliament to subsequently elect a new president.
However, the UN Special Representative for Somalia Augustine Mahiga has warned that the political elite are wrecking the process to select their supporters to staff the new Parliament as lawmakers.
"There have been disturbing reports of undue influence from aspiring politicians in current and former positions," Mahiga said, noting it included "exchange of and demands for favours, bribery and intimidation."
"We should not allow Parliamentary seats to become commodities for sale or items for auction to the highest bidders at a time when we are seeking to reclaim the true stature of a dignified and respected Somali nation," he added. A leaked UN report earlier this month accused the current government of "pervasive corruption" estimating as much as 70 percent of state revenues had been stolen or squandered.
Bowed down by repeated droughts and riven by over two decades of conflict, Somalia is torn between rival clans, rebels and the government, which is propped up by a 17,000-strong African Union force.
Somalia has been without a stable central government since the ouster of former president Siad Barre in 1991. The Shebab face increasing pressure from pro-government forces and regional armies, having lost a series of key towns and strategic bases in recent months. However, experts warn they are far from defeated and remain a major threat.
The provisional constitution applies immediately, but it must be finally ratified by a national referendum within the lifetime of the next Parliament.
Sources indicated the endorsed draft remained unchanged from an initial proposal, which provides for federal republic with laws "compliant with the general principles of Sharia" or Islamic law, and a multi-party system with women "included in all national institutions".
Somali leaders endorse draft constitution amid violence
Somali leaders endorse draft constitution amid violence
Bangladesh arrests journalist for ‘anti-state activities’
DHAKA: Bangladesh police on Monday said they had arrested a veteran journalist for alleged “anti-state activities,” accused of promoting the banned party of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The arrest, which comes ahead of key elections in February, the first vote since the student-led uprising last year that overthrew the autocratic government of Hasina and her Awami League, sparked concerns from a key rights group.
Anis Alamgir was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act along with three others, accused of spreading propaganda in talk shows and social media posts, and conspiring to rehabilitate the Awami League.
The interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League in May under amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act — a move Human Rights Watch condemned as “draconian.”
“Anis Alamgir has been arrested on accusations of conspiring against the state,” said Kazi Mohammad Rafiq, officer-in-charge of Uttara West police station in the capital Dhaka.
Three others were named in police documents alongside Alamgir, including actress Meher Afroz Shaon.
Rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra condemned the arrest.
“Using a law, originally enacted to prevent terrorist activities, against freedom of expression and journalism is against the fundamental principles of a democratic state,” it said in a statement.
“It’s an attack on freedom of expression.”
Press freedom in Bangladesh has long been under threat, and Hasina’s tenure was marked as one of the worst periods for media freedom in the South Asian nation.
Bangladesh ranks 149 out of 180 countries for press freedom in 2025, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), up from 165 a year before.
But RSF also notes that over 130 journalists were subjected to “unfounded judicial proceedings” and five detained, in the “political purge that followed the fall of Sheikh Hasina.”
Those listed as detained pending trial are Ekattor TV’s Farzana Rupa, Shakil Ahmad and Mozammel Babu, as well as freelancer Shahriar Kabir and Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj newspaper.
