Halima Yarey, the Chairperson of Somalia’s electoral commission, has announced that the country will know the exact dates of the forthcoming elections by the end of May.
The announcement will adhere to the Electoral Laws that the country’s parliament recently passed and President Mohamed Farmaajo enacted into law.
Yarey, who heads the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC), said the electoral body would present its position on the upcoming polls including the dates on May 27, 2020.
NIEC is expected to brief the country’s parliament on all the preparations it has made towards the elections.
The Electoral Law, which the Upper House passed in February, states that NIEC must announce poll dates 180 days before they are due to take place.
Should NIEC go ahead and announce the dates by the end of this month, though, it would still be late by two months.
Additionally, the Electoral Law requires NIEC to inform the country the electoral formula that would be used to determine the winner.
The newly passed law recognizes the winner-takes-it-all or First-Past-The-Post formula despite the huge misgivings by the Federal Government of Somalia.