International community urges Somali leaders to ensure credible elections

International community urges Somali leaders to ensure credible elections

Source: Hiiraan Online, Wednesday January 5, 2022

Mogadishu (HOL) The international community has called on the Somali National Consultative Assembly to ensure that the country’s Somalia holds credible elections in a timely manner.

The call came after diplomats met with Somalia’s prime minister and regional presidents in Mogadishu on Tuesday. 

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“International partners urge the National Consultative Assembly to ensure that the elections are credible so that Somalia can focus on other priorities such as security and development,” United Nations special envoy to Somalia James Swan said in a statement. 

Swan said the UN encourages better implementation of the electoral process, including correcting irregularities in the rules and ensuring a clear deadline to complete credible elections.

Representatives of the international community led by the UN head in Somalia James Swan joined in for the second day of the National Consultative Council meeting today amid expectations of a way forward to conclude the long-running elections in the country. Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and Presidents of the Federal Member States started the meeting yesterday following recent skirmishes between the PM and outgoing President Mohamed Farmaajo.

The meeting is expected to further deliberate on ironing out contentious issues in the elections, including transparency, number of polling stations, security and ways to expedite the process. The first senator was elected on 29 July 2021, and to date, less than half of the Lower House seats have been filled.

The National Consultative Council continues to meet in Mogadishu for the third day to discuss ways to overcome the political stalemate hampering the elections.