The east African country is struggling to emerge from decades of conflict and chaos, battling a bloody Islamist insurgency and frequent natural disasters. Thursday's polls will serve as a pilot test of the direct voting system  championed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, amid opposition from member  states who say it is a bid to centralise power in Mogadishu. According to the country's electoral body more than 1,600 candidates will contest 390 local council seats in the southeastern Banadir region. Key opposition parties have boycotted the election, accusing the federal  government of "unilateral election processes". Somalia's system of direct voting was abolished after Siad Barre took power  in 1969. Since the fall of his authoritarian government in 1991, the country's political system has revolved around a clan-based structure. Universal suffrage is, however, practised in the breakaway region of  Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 but has never been internationally recognised. In May 2023, the semi-autonomous northern state of Puntland held local elections by direct vote, but later abandoned the system for local and regional polls in January. The upcoming vote has been postponed three times this year. (Bssnews)