{"id":406976,"date":"2021-09-27T04:36:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T04:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/?p=406976"},"modified":"2021-09-27T04:36:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T04:36:25","slug":"international-partners-visit-garowe-for-discussions-on-local-and-federal-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/international-partners-visit-garowe-for-discussions-on-local-and-federal-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"International partners visit Garowe for discussions on local and federal elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garowe(SONNA)-<\/span>Continuing their regular contact with the leaders of Somalia\u2019s Federal Member States, representatives of some of the country\u2019s international partners today visited Puntland to discuss a range of issues, with a particular focus on upcoming local and federal elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the local elections, we were heartened to learn about the progress made so far, particularly that the work of the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) is advancing,\u201d the UN Secretary-General\u2019s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, said in media remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The UN official was speaking on behalf of the visiting delegation after it had met with Puntland\u2019s President Said Abdullahi Deni and members of his cabinet.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>The delegation\u2019s other members were the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Francisco Madeira; the European Union Ambassador to Somalia, Tiina Intelmann; and the Ambassador of Sweden to Somalia, Per Lindgarde.
\n<\/span>In addition to meeting with Puntland\u2019s leader, the delegation also met with the Chairperson of Puntland\u2019s State Electoral Implementation Team (SEIT), Abdikarim Muse Mohamud, and other members of the electoral body, as well as representatives of the Federal Member State\u2019s civil society.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Elections<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Puntland is due to hold the first of its direct, local elections \u2013 in Eyl, Ufeyn and Qardho \u2013 on 25 October. The delegation commended the TPEC, the government and people of Puntland for their commitment to holding direct elections, as enshrined in Puntland\u2019s Constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf completed successfully, these direct local elections would be an important step in showing the feasibility of \u2018one person, one vote\u2019 elections in today\u2019s Somalia,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>On the matter of federal elections, the delegation welcomed Puntland\u2019s recent completion of the federal Upper House elections and discussed the urgent need for moving on to the next stage of the federal elections, for the House of the People. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Referring to recent tensions, the delegation also shared the international community\u2019s concern about the risks that ongoing political disputes between national leaders may pose to the process. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cPresident Deni and our delegation agreed that Somalia\u2019s leaders must continue to work together, in a spirit of national unity, to overcome differences,\u201d Mr. Swan said. \u201cWe urge all to move forward to deliver on their commitments to hold credible national elections on time and in accordance with the 27 May Agreement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s participation<\/p>\n

<\/a>Somalia\u2019s international partners have frequently noted how the country\u2019s parliamentary elections are an opportunity to build on the progress made in women\u2019s political participation and that women\u2019s full inclusion in all sectors of society will contribute to greater resilience, peace and stability in the Horn of Africa country. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>In his remarks, the UN Special Representative highlighted the importance of women\u2019s participation in the electoral processes, both local and national. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cIt is vital that these processes respect the right of women to participate fully in all aspects of public life, and that the minimum quota of 30 <\/span>per cent<\/span> women\u2019s representation is achieved in the House of the People elections,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>He added that the delegation had also emphasized the importance of ensuring the country\u2019s political space remains open, allowing for a diversity of voices and views to be expressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cIt is especially important to ensure political space for all \u2013 through freedom of expression, media access, freedom of organization and assembly \u2013 so that all voices may be heard and count,\u201d Mr. Swan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, a delegation of international partners visited Baidoa, in South West State, as part of their ongoing cooperation with the country\u2019s Federal Member State leaders, aimed at supporting Somalia on its path to greater stability.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garowe(SONNA)-Continuing their regular contact with the leaders of Somalia\u2019s Federal Member States, representatives of some of the country\u2019s international partners today visited Puntland to discuss a range of issues, with a particular focus on upcoming local and federal elections.\u00a0 \u201cOn the local elections, we were heartened to learn about the progress made so far, particularly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":406977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-406976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406978,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406976\/revisions\/406978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}