Sunday October 17, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's PM, Mohamed Hussein Roble, announced on Sunday that the country's Lower House election would begin next week.
PM Roble said that the northern regions of Somaliland will be the first to elect their federal MPs, adding that Speaker Abdi Hashi and Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled have agreed to expedite the election.
"I want to bring in a new government and system as soon as possible and hand over power with my shirt clean and without violence. Parliamentary elections will begin next week as promised by Speaker Abdi Hashi and Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled and other officials in the Northern regions," said Prime Minister Roble.
Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled promised that the elections would be fair and called on Somalia's Federal Member State leaders to conclude their Upper House elections.
Somalia's electoral season has been dragged out for nearly eight months. Neither the parliament nor the president has a legal mandate to govern. Presidential elections in Somalia were due to take place on Oct 10, and the government's spokesman conceded that he did not know when an election would be held.
The Prime Minister said that Lower House members would be elected by Nov 25. Still, with thousands of delegates involved in the complicated process, it seems that he set an ambitious target for himself that is unlikely to be met.
All of Somalia's federal member states except for Jubaland and Galmudug have elected their incoming Senators.