Somalia PM pledges timely elections days after appointment

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Elections in Somalia will go on as planned, newly appointed Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has said, just days after the election calendar was released, adding that his major mandate is to ensure the polls are held within the stipulated time as envisaged in the agreement.

Stakeholders in Somalia agreed to have elections from next month when the tenure of the current administration expires, months after accusations and counter-accusations over the model and date for the polls, which culminated in at least four conferences, leading to the historic deal.

The country was almost plunging into a pre-election crisis before the US, European Union and other stakeholders raised several issues, among them the stability of the nation. Somalia majorly depends on international partners in financing several key institutions.

And on Saturday, PM Roble maintained that his administration will conduct the elections based on the Mogadishu agreement, arguing that the polls remain his major mandate. The PM is mandated to coordinate government affairs among them putting necessary measures to ensure elections are held.

"My government and I will organize a free, fair, transparent, and peaceful electoral process in Somalia and as defined in our agreement which was signed a few days ago. We have to ensure that the political process goes on as planned for the sake of stability," said the PM, who was appointed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on September 17, 2020.

"As you servants, our main focus is to ensure all government operations are handled in a proper manner. You don't have to panic over these short term issues that will end sooner rather than later. It's important that the nation comes first before anything," he added.

On the other hand, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble appealed for international donor funding to ‘ensure free, fair, and timely elections.

Despite promising the elections, PM Roble is yet to constitute a legal cabinet as enshrined in the rule of law. As of now, he's operating with the cabinet of his predecessor Hassan Ali Khaire, who was fired in July, and constitutionally, such a cabinet cannot come up with binding legislation.

The Mogadishu agreement will see MPs elected in December to represent certain clans under the Constituency Caucus model which had been endorsed. The model is a sort of improved clan-based system which is popularly known as the 4.5 model and that had been challenged by forces of democracy.

Senators [Upper House] will be elected at the regional level by the already existing local parliaments and will be 54 in number. The MPs, who will, later on, elect the president are 275 in number and are mainly picked based on the strength of a certain clan in the Horn of Africa nation.

A special electoral commission from the states' level will conduct the elections with supervision from another team from the federal government. This technically edges out the National Independent Electoral Commission, and the team will coordinate presidential polls in February 2021.

GAROWE ONLINE