The National Independent Electoral Commission held its a regular meeting in Mogadishu with Political Parties registered as a temporary. The Chairperson of NIEC Halima Ismail Ibrahim made a brief presentation during which she provided detailed information on how the Commission operates and what action it has taken so far to enable elections to take place. One of the main purposes of the reciprocal debates among Political Parties and NIEC is that Parties should be aware of the progress made to establish the electoral process and the challenges the Commission is facing such as voter registration, voter education, the electoral process, and Political Parties registration.
The Chairperson made a welcome speech and spoke of her appreciation to the participants for attending, and stressed the need to establish an election law that would enable elections to take place. “Technically, if the Commission is requested to conduct elections, the Commission is ready and able to hold elections, but without electoral law in place, we cannot hold elections”, the Commissioner Halima said.
The Director of the Operations; Ismail also briefed the Parties about the timetable for delivery of voter registration equipment, public registration timelines including the deadline for registration. He informed the Political Parties that the commission has established an offices in the regional states across the country and reported on the progress made voter registration process and how the commission is prepared for it in the stating that “every citizen must register to be a voter; it is not possible to cast your vote if you are not registered ” said Director Ismail Yasin’’.
Participants had a positive discussion on all of the activities needed to be to achieve one person one vote elections. They strongly requested that the Parties trust the process and that election stakeholders be protected and provided with accurate information to keep them informed of what is going on. The Political Parties have been advocating for the protection of women’s rights under the Parties’ law, particularly the 30% quota. They called for Parliament to uphold the women’s rights and that the required number of seats be reserved in advance to ensure the quota is met.
The meeting was concluded with a report by the Registrar of Political Parties, who outlined the progress made for the temporary registration of the parties and how they could achieve an official registration. He urged them to play a vital role in preparing themselves for the upcoming elections.