Somalia: Somaliland postpones voter registration by a month

HARGEISA, Somalia-Somaliland government in northwestern Somalia has announced postponement of voter registration exercise by one month on account of severe drought on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.

President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo has discussed the move to put the ongoing exercise on hold with House of Elders, Parliament and leaders of UCID and Wadani opposition parties.

“I have been inundated with many calls for us to put on hold the voter registration endeavor, so that we can turn to relief efforts for those ravaged by the drought,” said Somaliland President.

Somaliland is languishing in worst drought in recent years, with deaths reported in extreme western regions.

All opposition parties except for Wadani welcomed that the exercise for 2017 poll be postponed to May 2.

Electoral board has planned to conduct the registration in largest Marodijeh region in early April.

Wadani claimed that the exercise had already been carried out in worst-hit region.

Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia, gears up for presidential and parliamentary elections slated for early 2017. The breakaway region declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de  facto sovereign State in 1991 but it has not been recognized internationally yet.

GAROWEONLINE