FEIT gives three states 48 hours to commence Lower House election in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Federal Elections Implementation Team [FEIT] has given three states an ultimatum to commence Lower House elections in Somalia, warning that any further delay will have dire consequences in the coming days.

Somalia's elections have been a thorn in the flesh, with the international community warning that any further delay cannot be tolerated. Ideally, all parliamentary elections were set to end by the beginning of this month based on May 27 agreement.

In a statement, the implementation team demanded that Jubaland, Puntland, and Hirshabelle commence the Lower House elections within 48 hours. But so far, none of these states is yet to give the list of candidates fighting for various seats.

"Federal Elections Implementation Team has on Monday evening called on Somalia’s Jubbaland, Puntland and Hirshabelle States to commence elections of House of People within 48 hours," state media reported.

In the statement, the team also demanded that the three states give tangible reasons should they fail to commence the polls which are long overdue. This comes as the opposition demands suspension of the process over “rigging” allegations.

"The FGS-FMS will shoulder responsibility for any further delays in the parliamentary polls in Somalia," says FEIT, which was tasked to conduct polls in conjunction with the federal states and other stakeholders in the country.

The Jubaland Electoral Implementation ‘FEIT’ Committee has announced they will hold elections for 14 seats in the House of the People.

Already, the opposition has boycotted the polls and instead started planning for the national consultative forum to discuss several underlying issues. They accuse outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo of stage-managing the exercise in his favor.

On Sunday night, former Prime Minister of Somalia Omar Sharmarke, who is currently in Mogadishu, reportedly met with outgoing President Farmaajo. The meeting, which lasted for several hours, focused on Somalia's disputed elections, according to a source.

In Southwest, Somaliland, and even the Banadir region, several outcomes of the Lower House elections have been disputed over rigging claims. Quite a number of winners are reportedly closely related to Farmaajo.

GAROWE ONLINE