By Kwanta Douglas –
Federal electoral commission of Somalia has ordered all regional poll supervisors to ensure that at least 30% of seats in the Lower House are filled by women.
The federal agency also released a table in a letter to state electoral teams detailing the number of lawmakers each state will vote for out of the total 275 MPs and the respective 30% women legislators.
The five federal states and Benadir are split among the 275 seats.
The Lower House, popularly known as the House of the People, was set to hold elections on Tuesday, with voting staggered through December 24. The elections, on the other hand, did not get off to a good start.
To get about 30 percent of women MPs, the general rule is that every clan that votes for more than two MPs should elect at least one woman.
The Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT) statement said, “All clans that are allocated with the election of MPs and the SEITs in each state or constituency are hereby urged to conduct the elections, bearing in mind the stated women quota to generate a minimum of 82 women legislators.”
Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble on Monday travelled to Dusamareb town, the capital of Galmudug, and met local State Electoral Implementation Teams (SEIT) and representatives of FEIT in the constituency.
PM Roble urged both teams to ensure a transparent and reliable electoral process.
“I hereby urge you to refrain from anything that contradicts the agreed electoral modalities,” he told the teams in Galmudug, a message that will also apply to all other teams in the 11 constituencies.
AFP
