Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Bastien Renouy talks us through.
00:01 After weeks of debates, Somalia's MPs decided to change the constitution.
00:08 The key amendments are in the first four chapters of the transitional constitution.
00:13 They include freedom of expression, women's representation.
00:17 They even changed the electoral system.
00:20 The next presidential election in Somalia should be on a one-person, one-vote basis,
00:25 which wasn't the case till now, mainly for security reasons,
00:28 because the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab is still targeting the federal government.
00:34 In a joint statement, the international community, which includes
00:37 African Union, the United States, the United Kingdom,
00:41 said that they acknowledged the intention of the federal government
00:45 to make progress in finalizing its constitution.
00:48 But not everyone is happy with these changes, mainly in Somalia, in the Puntland region.
00:54 It's a semi-autonomous state located in the northern part of Somalia.
00:58 The local government published a statement saying that Puntland will have the power
01:02 of a full independent government until there is a federal system of government agreed upon,
01:08 a constitution agreed by Somalis and approved through a referendum in which Puntland is part of.
01:16 So what's going to happen next? It's impossible to say so far.
01:20 The president of the federal government, Hassan Sheikh Mohammed, is yet to comment this situation.