Somali researcher and academic Ibrahim Abdul Qader said that the new Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud faces many challenges that are at the heart of the Somali crisis.
Challenges facing Somalia’s new president
Abdul Qader explained in special statements to the "Constitution", that among these challenges are the deterioration of the national economy, the low level of per capita income to the weakest levels in light of the famine currently supervised by the country, in addition to the sharpness of political polarization among the segments of society due to the effects of the past parliamentary and presidential elections, which need to crystallize efforts in order to achieve national unity.
The Somali expert explained that among the challenges that Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud will also face is regional and international conflicts based on geostrategic interests, which require the president to develop a consensual foreign policy with all international and regional bodies, in line with national sovereignty, in addition to another challenge, which is the deterioration of national security in the capital, and the presence of a number of regions under the control of Al-Shabaab, affiliated with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
Security on the priority list of Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud
The Somali academic stressed that the security file is at the top of the list of priorities of President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and his expected government. His electoral program included his vision to address this file, where he announced the need to confront Al-Shabaab militarily, and expressed his readiness to confront it intellectually by all possible means. The president made some statements that correspond to his electoral program after his election as President of Somalia, and made his first visit to the headquarters of the Somali Ministry of Defense yesterday.
It is worth noting that Al-Shabaab controls large sectors in southern Somalia, and its influence has recently expanded, according to analysts.