![Demonstrators from Somali anti-government opposition groups burn photographs of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 25, 2021 (AP photo by Farah Abdi Warsameh).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/l__omalia-___relations-04292021-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
Somalia stepped back from the brink of widespread violence Wednesday, when incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed abandoned his controversial effort to unilaterally extend his term amid months of electoral turmoil. Mohamed’s about-face came after several weeks of escalating conflict, sparked by his decision on April 14 to sign a law extending his mandate and that of federal lawmakers by two years. While the legislation had been passed by the lower house of Parliament, it had yet to gain approval from the Senate, a required step before a bill can become law in Somalia. Mohamed’s decision to sign it anyway led […]