NAIROBI (Reuters) – A roadmap leading to the election of a new Somali president in August 2012 is expected to be adopted at a three-day meeting in the capital starting Sunday, the first major political conference in war-battered Mogadishu for four years.

Somalia has been run since 2004 by a string of transitional governments that have failed to achieve any tangible constitutional reform, political reconciliation or security, exasperating international donors and Somalis alike.

Now, patience has run out. Under the roadmap, Somali political leaders will have 12 months to carry out reforms they have agreed since a deal struck in Kampala in June ended months of high-level bickering.

The Horn of Africa nation has been mired in violence since a dictator was ousted in 1991. It has become a haven for Islamist militants and a launch pad for pirate attacks in busy nearby shipping lanes.

According to the draft roadmap recommended by a Somali preparatory committee on August 23, the aim is to hold polls by August 20 next year for members of a revamped federal parliament, local administrations and a president.

Now, the president is elected by lawmakers who are appointed according to a strict formula splitting power between Somalia’s major clans — a process that has damaged the legitimacy of transitional governments to date.

Given the dire security situation, the chance of holding popular elections in large parts of the Horn of Africa nation is slim, so it is not yet clear how polls will be conducted.

That’s why Augustine Mahiga, special envoy of the U.N. secretary-general, says coming up with a new constitution that would change the way lawmakers and presidents are selected will be crucial to giving any new government credibility.   

“In this one year, we want to achieve, literally, what has not been achieved for over seven years,” Mahiga told reporters.

“That constitution will be the basis of forming the next government … If there is going to be a change, it has to be in that area, so that we don’t have another government formed by the same parliament,” he said on Friday.

INSURGENT THREAT

Besides coming up with a new constitution and reforming parliament, the roadmap lays out timetables for improving security in Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia, reaching out to political foes and tackling rampant graft.

While past political talks have been marred by the absence of key players, the U.N. says the leaders of the Puntland and Galmudug regions and the Sufi militia Ahlu Sunna will join political leaders in Mogadishu for the talks this time.

“I think the Somali leadership and the Somali people have really demonstrated an eagerness to get over this transition period,” said Mahiga. “The Kampala agreement was a major sign of their willingness.”

While U.N. officials were reluctant to talk about sanctions if the roadmap were to fail, the Security Council said in August that future support of the government and parliament would be conditional on its successful completion.

The fact the conference is taking place in Mogadishu is a reflection of the improved security in the capital since al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels withdrew in early August.

But al Shabaab, which still controls huge chunks of southern and central Somalia, has vowed attacks on the government and African Union troops in Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab has given up much of its territory in Mogadishu, but it is still active in pockets of the capital, carrying out beheadings and targeting AU convoys with roadside bombs.

Source: Reuters Africa