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UN regrets delay in Somalia election timeline

Xinhua, August 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Friday expressed regret over the postponement of elections in Somalia from August to October because of technical difficulties, but welcomed "the continued political and security progress" in the Horn of Africa nation since 2012.

The 15-nation UN body, in a presidential statement adopted here, also underscored "the need to maintain the momentum towards democratic governance, with an inclusive, transparent and credible electoral process in 2016 as a stepping stone to universal suffrage in 2020."

Current balloting is a weighted clan-based system, according to Security Council reports, a non-governmental organization (NGO) monitoring the council.

"The Security Council notes the consensus decision of the National Leadership Forum (NLF), based on the recommendation of the Somalia's Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT), to extend the timeline for the parliamentary electoral process until Oct. 25 and the timeline for the presidential electoral process until Oct. 30 to allow for the implementation of the technical modalities for an inclusive process," said the statement.

Recognizing the NLF's decision to extend current mandates for federal institutions to respect the proposed timeline, the council also noted the delay to the original timeline, and called on "all Somali stakeholders to work constructively to implement the revised calendar without further delay."

"The Security Council notes that this electoral process is an historic opportunity to deliver more representative governance to the people of Somalia and to reflect Somalia's diversity," the council said in the statement read out by Ambassador Ramhan Bin Ibrahim of Malaysia, this month's president of the council.

Such a statement, a formal declaration of the council's position, does not carry the weight of international law as does a Security Council resolution. Endit