Mogadishu (SONNA)- Minister of Constitutional Affairs of Federal Government of Somalia, Mr Salah Jama on Tuesday explained upcoming national election and said the country was transitioning from indirect electoral models to direct elections guided by the principles, SONNA reported.
“This country has gone through different circumstances when it comes to elections. There was a time when warlords nominated members of parliament. At times, the MPs were appointed by traditional elders. In the last election in 2016, traditional elder and 51 delegates, selected by him, elected each MP. The Somali people have gone through these evolving election stages.
Today the talks [on the next election] are on the table; the leaders will decide after they discuss on the issues and we [as a technical committee] will provide them with the technicalities and consultation they need.
Personally speaking, I have already worked at a similar capacity during the 2016 election, and I understand the different situations that need to be weighed.
Years have passed since 2016; similarly, the country is transitioning from indirect electoral models to direct elections guided by the principles that allow people to vote for their representatives. The goal, which is enshrined in the constitution, is for the people and their constituencies to have elected representatives. That said, we are facing a number of challenges, including insecurity and other issues that need to be addressed.
As a technical committee, our job is to balance these issues and come up with advice which accurately measures the possibility of one-person-one-vote election and the realities on the ground, and [also provides an opinion] on how to deal with these realities.
To put it another way, [our job is figuring out] how we move from the 2016 indirect election to a one-person-one-vote election in 2020.”
