Wednesday January 19, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - The federal Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation, Duran Ahmed Farah, has said that the Lower House election process in Garowe for HOP 166 violated the electoral rules laid out by the recent NCC meeting.
The minister, one of the candidates running for the seat, said that delegates involved in the process were not from the community they purported to represent.
"I declare to the people of Somalia, and the community that the HOP166 seat of the House of Representatives has been administered in violation of the Indirect Election Procedures agreed upon from January 3 to 9, 2022,” Farah said.
He added that the committee selecting the delegates and the delegates they chose to vote for the MPs were not representative of the community.
Puntland SEIT has not yet responded to the allegations.
This seat is one of the seats that are expected to be contested on the 22nd in Garowe, and Minister Duran's complaint comes as some candidates have previously complained about seats being essentially reserved for individuals, making it nearly impossible to contest.
Several candidates for seats in the lower house have accused Puntland’s electoral commission of rejecting a petition to suspend the seats that have been earmarked for specific candidates.