The
process to be approved by the outgoing parliament falls short of
one-person-one-vote, which diplomats say would be too tough to stage
because of the insurgency. But the process will expand the number of
people picking the lawmakers.
In 2012, just 135
elders selected members of the lower house. Under the new rules, 13,750
people from across federal states will chose 275 members of the lower
house. A new 54-seat upper house will also be created to represent the
states.
The European Union, another
major donor, said a parliamentary failure to act quickly "will
jeopardize the Somali political process and set Somalia several years
back."A delegation U.N. Security Council diplomats echoed the comments in talks with Somali leaders in Mogadishu this week.
Egypt's U.N.
ambassador, Abdellattif Aboulatta, told a news conference in Nairobi on
Friday that the delegation had urged Somali officials to approve the
process "as soon as possible."
Privately,
diplomats have said the election process might slip by a few weeks, but
it must maintain momentum because any political vacuum could be
exploited by al Shabaab Islamists or clan warlords who tore the nation
apart in the 1990s.
President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in 2012, is expected to run again.
Several corruption scandals have frustrated donors. Officials say they
have worked hard to respond to criticisms.
The
new election process aims to consolidate a federal structure, which
includes recently created regional states in a nation where politics is
still largely driven by clan loyalties.
But
the government of Somaliland, a self-declared independent state in the
north, will not take part in the election process although seats will be
allocated on its behalf, diplomats and officials say.