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Somalia poll body pledges fair exercise

Xinhua, August 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Somalia electoral body has promised the country that it will carry out electoral process with impartiality to ensure the exercise is successful.

Members of the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) which will oversee the conduct of the 2016 electoral process beginning later this month also assured the public that the electoral process will be free and fair.

"The Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) is responsible for processing all that work needed to implement this elaborated plan," FIEIT chairman Omar Mohamed Abdulle.

He said the forthcoming election is not a multi-party election but a clan-based election.

"We will consider any claim they might have. We will ensure the principles of transparency, impartiality and accountability of the electoral processes and procedures. We will listen to you and make corrections. We promise impartiality in the exercise," Abdulle said.

He said the electoral process would be held concurrently in 37 locations in the federal and regional capitals including Mogadishu, Garowe, Cadaado, Kismaayo, and Baidoa.

According to Abdulle, the FIEIT has established committees at both the federal and regional levels and was working closely with Somali security agencies, mainly the army, police and intelligence, as well as AMISOM, to ensure that the electoral process is held in a secure environment.

According to the framework agreement, said Abdulle, anything related to politics will be delivered to the National Leadership Forum for further management.

The election is based on the political framework guided by the National Leadership Forum, which consists of the federal government and the federal member states, he said.

The upcoming elections will be more inclusive, with a representation of over 14,000 "electoral envoys", mandated to elect members of the lower house of Parliament who will in turn participate in electing the President along with the Upper House of the Legislature.

Dates for the voting for members of the country's next federal Parliament have yet to be announced.

The FIEIT will train clan elders on the election processes and procedures, recruit electoral officials and accredit local and international observers.

The FIEIT has formed working groups to handle electoral planning and processing, training and protocol. Committees have been set up to handle women's representation, communication and outreach, and security. Endit