Roundup: Int'l partners decry changes to electoral process in Somalia

International partners have expressed "grave" concern about recent decisions by Somalia's National Leadership Forum (NLF) that they say contravened the country's constitutional electoral process.

In a joint statement issued in Mogadishu on Tuesday night, the UN, the African Union, the European Union, Britain, the United States, the regional bloc Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden lamented that failure by the NLF to address malpractices that will negatively affect the credibility of the electoral process.

Somalia's Provisional Constitution allows 54 seats in the upper house of the parliament.

A total of 283 MPs -- 242 members of the lower house and 41 members of the upper house -- were sworn in on Tuesday in a ceremony in the capital Mogadishu, marking an end to a prolonged vote.

However according to a communique issued on Monday, the NLF, which includes the Somali president, senior officials and federal state leaders, has decided to add seats in the upper house.

"While Tuesday's inauguration of the federal parliament is a positive step in the electoral process, any further expansion of the upper house should only be contemplated after the presidential vote has been held in the new federal parliament and implemented through a proper constitutional process," the statement by international partners said.

The statement also pointed to a number of "egregious cases of abuse" including men who have taken parliamentary seats reserved for women and the NLF's decision to invalidate all disqualifications for candidates who have allegedly committed abuse and malpractice.

"It contravenes the government's solemn commitment to respect the rule of law. If these candidates are allowed to take their seats in Somalia's 10th parliament, it will bring into question the NLF's expressed commitment to the principles of accountability and credibility that underpin the entire process," said the statement.

The partners also expressed concern that such steps "will also undermine the electoral code of conduct signed by all parliamentary candidates in the spirit of leveling the playing field and ensuring the delivery of a credible process."

The international partners called for a re-run for those parliamentary seats whose outcomes were influenced by violence, corruption, intimidation, an unauthorized substitution of electoral college delegates, or a failure to set aside one in three seats for women.

They also urged the parliament to issue as soon as possible a timeline for the completion of the process in order to elect the speakers of the new federal parliament and the Somali president.

"This timeline should be strictly enforced to avoid yet another postponement in an electoral process that was supposed to have finished earlier this year. There is a particular need to conclude the process swiftly in light of the UN Security Council's upcoming meeting on Somalia that is scheduled for January 19, 2017," the statement said.

Somalia's new MPs are tasked with choosing the new president. The presidential election, which was first set in September, has been posponed four times.

Despite the inauguration of the parliament, the international partners said the integrity of the 2016 electoral process hung in the balance, noting that more delays and a failure to hold accountable those parties, who have committed serious abuses and malpractices, will compromise the international community's ability and willingness to engage with Somalia's next government. Endit