Wednesday December 1, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's electoral commission says it is investigating the recent parliamentary election held in Baidoa after Mohamed Osman Jawari lodged a formal complaint.
The chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mohamed Hassan Irro, in Baidoa, told reporters that the results had been suspended to determine whether the process was legitimate.
newsnsideChairman Iirro said they would meet with all candidates involved in the race and promised to look into how the seat was managed and how the election took place.
Somalia's electoral committee has been under mounting international pressure after being dogged with a litany of complaints by candidates seeking higher office. The Dispute Resolution Committee has already been forced to suspend the results of at least three high-profile elections - including Acting Intelligence Chief Yasin Farey's election in Galmudug - pending an investigation.
The South West Electoral Commission, which held the by-elections earlier this week, accused the federal election commission of interfering in its work.
On Sunday, Mohamed Ali Hassan wins a controversial election for the HOP-103 seat in the Lower House in Baidoa. Jawari, a career politician and two-time parliamentary house speaker, was barred from contesting in the election. Hassan is currently a cabinet member in the Southwest State government and is closely linked with the regional president, Abdiaziz Laftagareen.
As a result of the widespread electoral fraud, a group of Presidential hopefuls who make up Somalia's opposition bloc have announced that they will boycott the elections. The Council of Presidential Candidates (CPC) said that participating in an election fraught with so many irregularities would amount to a tacit endorsement of the process. The group is currently engaging other stakeholders to find a "national solution" to the election debacle.
Prime Minister Roble stressed the need for the Electoral Commission to hold state election commissions accountable in the conduct of the election process to maintain the integrity of the elections.
Somalia's federal parliament legal mandate expired late last December.