MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Backlash has grown in Somalia over the government’s appointment of electoral commission comprising intelligence agents as senate leader Abdi Hashi and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble lock horns in the controversial move.
Opposition figures issued a joint press statement to assert their position over the government’s controversial appointment of a federal electoral commission comprising national intelligence agents.
Among the opposition figures are renowned candidates who are in a race to challenge the incumbent president in the upcoming presidential elections, raising fears that the inclusion of intelligence officials in the electoral commission could undermine both the fair management of elections and the outcome.
Former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and the current administration’s former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire were among the candidates who jointly issued the statement, calling for revoking the electoral commission.
In addition, the opposition members stressed that the appointment of the new electoral commission was against an agreement previously signed between the federal government and regional leaders.
The opposition’s statement has come days after the speaker of the senate Abdi Hashi said members representing Somaliland whom he had earlier picked did not appear in the new electoral commission, adding that he was not engaged in consultation over the decision.
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