Chairman of Electoral Commission Says Somaliland Election Rests in the Hands of Foreign Countries

Chairman of Electoral Commission Says Somaliland Election Rests in the Hands of Foreign Countries

Hargeisa, Somaliland (Somaliland Globe)- The Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Jama Mohamed Omar (famously known as Jama-Sweden) has expressed serious concern over what he described as the unfortunate state of affairs over the "foreign hands" managing Somaliland's upcoming election. 

Jama-Sweden made the remarks at a hearing held before members of the Upper House of Somaliland's Parliament, known as Guurti, during a question and answer session after testimony. During this period, much of the questioning focused on whether the presidential election scheduled for 27 September will take place and whether a complete voter registration list will be produced in good time as accurate and accepted voter registry is pivotal to a credible electoral process.  

The chairman of the Upper House, Saleban Mohamoud Aden, asked the commissioners 'whether there are any obstacles that might pose potential problems to the election schedule'. 

Jama-Sweden reassured members of the House that the presidential election will go ahead and will be held as scheduled. He mentioned that there were some technical and administrative hitches but these had now been resolved and the three parties had finalised and signed the Code of Conduct.  

Jama-Sweden said: "Somaliland has attained this level of achievement without relying much on foreign assistance but the greatest tragedy is when the management of your election is placed in the hands of your donors and you have no power over it.  

"However, I do strongly believe that from now onwards Somaliland will not place the management of its elections in foreign hands and that the Somaliland people will rely on themselves and their meagre resources rather than waiting for assistance from donors," he added. 

The vice-chairman of the NEC, Ali Hassan Abdalla, also took a similar line. He said the commission would not wait for the voter registration list if the donor countries and Interpeace (the agency responsible for processing voter registration list) fail to produce the list by 27 July deadline. 
 
 
 
 
 

The chairman and his deputy both pointed out that the final decision on the voter registration list rests with the donor countries and Interpeace agency. 

It was not immediately clear why Jama-Sweden lashed out at the donor countries, when there is a simmering feud within his agency that paralysed the work of the commission.  

Jama-Sweden was accused to have deliberately "engineered" to expel two commissioners from the agency, which poisoned the atmosphere of teamwork between members of the commission. President Rayale rejected his request to expel one of the commissioners, Mohamed Yusuf, on medical grounds, which was found to be misleading.  However, Rayale approved the expulsion of the other commissioner and the parliament subsequently approved it.  

Asked whether the presidential election will take place if the voter registration list is not ready by17 July deadline, Jama-Sweden said the election would go ahead without the voters' list. However, he added if the donors failed to pay the election expenses, then the responsibility would be entirely on the government. 

The commissioners failed to illuminate further several important points and declined to answer many questions including where does Interpeace fit the Electoral Law of the country? Is it true that the commission relinquished its powers to Interpeace agency and donor countries? How can the commissioners be impartial when they are so openly divided along party lines? 
 

Staff Writer

Somaliland Globe