Speaker Abdi Abdullahi Hashi of Somalia’s Upper House (Senate) has called for international intervention in the row on Somaliland’s poll committee.
For the last week, Hashi has blasted the Federal Government of Somalia for seeking to influence the election of Somaliland legislators by appointing Mogadishu-friendly commissioners.
On November 14, Speaker Hashi wrote a letter to the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) requesting their involvement in the elections row between Somalia and Somaliland.
In the letter, Hashi accuses President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo of unilaterally appointing Somaliland Elections Committee (SEC).
He said the move by Farmaajo’s administration contravened the agreements reached earlier that allow each region to appoint its own electoral commission.
Hashi has not seen eye-to-eye with Villa Somalia for quite some time.
He has accused Farmaajo, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, and Fahad Yasin, the head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), of “gerrymandering the process.”
Speaker Hashi joins 12 candidates for the presidential ticket in condemning the move by Villa Somalia to appoint the committee without involving other stakeholders.