FNP supports Senate speaker stand on Somaliland poll committee

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Forum for National Parties [FNP] a conglomerate of six opposition parties in Somalia, has endorsed Senate Speaker Abdi Hashi stand on the composition of Somaliland's electoral committee, just weeks before the country goes to an election.

Speaker Hashi had warned against plans by the Federal Government of Somalia to pick members of the Somaliland electoral committee, something which Hashi insisted that would contravene the provisional constitution of Somalia, which has been in place for several years.

In a statement on Monday, FNP under the leadership of former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud insisted that Somaliland should be allowed to choose polls committee members without pressure from the federal government of Somalia.

The northern breakaway region of Somaliland claims to have seceded from Somalia in 1991 but they are yet to get international recognition. But despite the current standoff, the region's politicians in Mogadishu are trying to establish a committee that will oversee the election of MPs set to take place in the capital.

The FNP insisted that the elections in Somaliland will only be credible if the region is allowed to pick representatives without interference from Mogadishu. It further insisted that Speaker Abdi Hashi was in order to call for such actions, adding that his sentiments should be respected.

The federal government is said to be keen on selecting a polls committee for Somaliland despite the fact that other federal states were given an opportunity to pick their own representatives, with just a few days to regional and national elections.

“The Federal Government does not have the right to appoint a committee for Somaliland as it does not appoint committee members from the federal member states,” the Senate speaker said in the tough-worded letter.

According to Hashi, the 2016 protocols on elections allows all states to independently come up with their own state committees. According to the agreements reached into by president Farmaajo and FMS leaders in September, elections for Somaliland representatives at the Senate and the Lower House will take place in Mogadishu.

The Federal Government was authorized to appoint the Somaliland committee. The region runs a parallel government but is allocated representatives to the Somali parliament, although such elections hold little significance given Hargeisa's urge for nationhood.

Hashi who hails from Somaliland said Somaliland should be allowed to appoint its own committee just as Federal Member States [FMS] do. He's a critic of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and has often accused him of interfering with the independence of parliament.

GAROWE ONLINE