Somalia political leaders rule out term extension

THE NATIONAL LEADERS FORUM COMMUNIQUE:

The National Leadership Forum met in Mogadishu from 9 to 12 April 2016.

The participants included the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Speaker of the Federal Parliament, H.E. Mohammed Sh. Osman Jawari, the Prime Minister of the Federal Government, H.E. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmaarke, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Government, H.E. Mohamed Omar Arteh, the President of Puntland, H.E. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the President of Jubbaland, H.E. Ahmed Mohamed Islaan, the President of the South-West, H.E. Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, and the President of Galmudug, H.E. Abdulkarim Hussein Guled.

The National Leadership Forum (NLF) welcomed the agreement reached between the Federal Government of Somalia and Puntland State on 03 April 2016 and noted that it paves the way for the implementation of the 2016 electoral process, as well as for preparations for universal (one-person one-vote) elections in 2020.

The Forum reiterated its commitment that there shall be no extension of the constitutionally mandated term limits of the legislative and the Federal Government. It called on all relevant entities to ensure the expeditious preparation and timely implementation of the 2016 electoral process and requested the assistance of international partners in this regard. Against this background, the NLF agreed on the following structures and modalities:

Electoral Process

Structures:

The 2016 electoral process will be uniform. A two-level structure comprising a Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT) and a State-Level Electoral Implementation Teams (SEITs) in each of the existing and emerging Federal Member States that will implement the process.

The FEIT will be composed of 17 Members where Five (5) members will be appointed by the Federal Government and two (2) members appointed by each of existing/emerging Member State.

Each SEIT will comprise of 11 members; Eight (8) members appointed by the Federal Member State and three (3) appointed by the Federal Government.

The FEIT and SEITs will be formed as soon as possible and they will undertake all relevant preparations for the electoral process. Clear Terms of References (TORs) for FEIT and SEIT will be developed and agreed upon for by the NLF.

The NLF will create a Dispute Resolution Mechanism for the 2016 electoral process.

PROCESS:

Upper House:

The Upper House of Parliament will be established before the elections of the Lower House.

30% of seats in each existing and emerging Federal Member State will be identified and specially reserved for women candidates.

State executives will nominate at least two candidates for each seat. The state assemblies will vote for each seat individually.

Each existing and emerging Federal Member State will adopt its own formula for distributing its seats among its communities or regions in a balanced and inclusive manner, ensuring adequate representation of the minorities.

Voting for the members of the Upper House of Parliament shall take place in parallel, on the same days, across all Federal Member States.

The Presidents of the Federal Member States shall duly sign the list of official members of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament for their respective States after SEITs forward the certified final results.

READ FULL COMMUNIQUE: NLF-Communique-Final-April-12-2016.pdf