Somalia's electoral board set to unveil elections date

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Dates for Somalia's much-anticipated elections will be unveiled by the end of this month, electoral board chair Halima Ismael Yarey has said, dispelling fears that the country might postpone the polls due to Coronavirus pandemic.

Tentatively, both parliamentary and presidential polls are set for December, although the National Independent Electoral Commission [NIEC] is yet to issue dates for preparations by both interested parties.

According to Ms Ismael, the Commission will be presenting data for polls among other critical deliveries to Parliament on May 27, a move which will formally set to rest the debate on whether or not the country is prepared to go for polls.

"As a commission, we shall be briefing parliament on preparations on 27th. We have done most of the things which the law requires of us. We want to have a peaceful election in our country," she said, adding that "the country will know the exact dates and laws which have been put in place".

Article 13 of the Elections Laws which were assented to by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo stipulates that the commission must set the date for the polls 180 days prior to elections. This means that the commission is already late given that the polls were scheduled for December.

The Federal Member States in Somalia have been vocal in their opposition to the new electoral law that was also recently signed into law by president Farmajo last February, arguing that they were given no chance to make their input or contributions.

Political analysts say the lack of Federal States' absence in the decision-making process and setting up new national election law would damage Somalia’s political progress and democracy.

In addition, the electoral commission continues to prepare for controversial elections even as the rift between the Federal Government and member states over the model deepens.

While the international partners and the federal government favours universal suffrage as the proper model for the elections, opposition factions in Somalia have opposed the approach, arguing that it will pave way for "unnecessary" delays.

Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, the leader of the main opposition, Wadajir, recently argued that the Commission should stick to the current clan-based model, adding that the radical changes should not be effected retrospectively.

"We cannot afford to go for the winner-takes-all model at this time. It should be implemented later. We don't have a capacity as a country to tolerate such a model, for now, it will end up causing delays," he had said.

The Commission had proposed the Closed List option under the Proportional Representation system but it was discarded by the Lower House after a series of public consultations. In 2017, close to 14,025 delegates, mostly elders elected the 275 MPs.

Already, the International Crisis Group has warned about the one-person-one-vote model, arguing that it could further plunge the country into an unprecedented crisis. The model, it argued, may erode all significant gains made in Somalia so far.

Those who are elected as MPs from various clans decide who becomes president of the country.

Farmajo, who was first elected in 2017, is facing a re-election puzzle following the recently unveiled Forum for National Parties coalition under the stewardship of former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Article 53 of the newly crafted electoral law has also been contested by the opposition, which insists that it could be used for term extensions. The clause allows the president to extend the terms of executive and parliament whenever there is a calamity.

Somalia is currently grappling with Coronavirus pandemic, which has left 1,219 people infected as of Wednesday. Of that number, 130 people have been given a clean bill of health while 52 have since died.

United Nations envoy to Somalia James Swan has been leading efforts to have all parties agree to the proposals on the winner-takes-all model. Ibrahim Yarow Isaq and Senator Mahdi Dahir Sheikh Nur are some of the senior members in the parliamentary ad-hoc committee on elections law.

GAROWE ONLINE