The ongoing Dhusamareb III talks between Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States have reached an agreement allowing National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) to supervise the forthcoming elections.
The meeting between President Mohamed Farmaajo of FGS and President Mohamed Abdi Ware, President Abdiasis Lafta-Gareen, and President Ahmed Kariye Qoorqoor of HirShabelle, Southwest, and Galmudug respectively has been going on the whole of this week.
All the leaders present at the meeting, including Mayor Omar Muhamoud Finnish of Mogadishu, already agreed on the country’s preferred electoral model. The leaders went for what they called constituency caucuses.
Consequently, that means voters would not be electing their leaders directly. Instead, 301 delegates making up each caucus would vote for their leaders; which is quite different from the one-person-one-vote model that many voters had warmed up to.
Furthermore, the leaders have now indicated that NIEC would continue supervising the elections, which are scheduled to take place on time as originally planned in November 2020 and February 2021.
In late June 2020, NIEC had told the federal parliament that the country would not be able to hold elections on time. Instead, the polls body requested for more time. It preferred holding national elections in March 2021 followed by presidential polls in August 2021.
However, the deal signed in Dhusamareb now requires elections to be held on time. Therefore, NIEC has a lot of work on its plate to prepare for credible elections.