The United Nations has requested parliament and the National Independent Elections Commission (NIEC) to protect the Somalia’s hope for elections.
Somalia is set to hold elections towards the end of the year.
The elections are crucial since they will be the first of its kind in a country that has been full of civil war, insecurity, dysfunctional government, and a collapsed economy.
Under the leadership of its Chairperson Halima Yarey, the NIEC has a mandate to deliver credible elections for Somalis.
On May 27, NIEC Chairperson is set to address parliament and highlight the measures and plans the board has put in place to prepare for the upcoming elections.
The upcoming elections have already seen President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and the country’s opposition taking different sides on the matter.
Opposition parties have accused President Farmaajo’s administration of plans to postpone the elections under the guise of COVID-19.
James Swan, the UN Envoy to Somalia, says the two bodies must play their role, which includes designing constituency boundaries, allocating seats to Somaliland and the Banadir region.
Furthermore, Swan says that the United Nations believes that the one-person-one-vote electoral model is better than the traditional clan-based system Somalia has relied on for years.