Somaliland Parliament dismisses tripartite agreement on electoral commission

Hargeisa, Aug 17 (Somaliland.com) – The leadership of Somaliland’s House of Representatives has today blocked to put on the floor a motion to approve the agreement of the political parties which ended the deadlock over the local and parliamentary election.

The rejected motion was meant to increase the number of commissioners of the country’s electoral body.

The three political parties of Somaliland agreed last month that a new electoral commission be formed and which will have nine commissioners instead of former seven with three commissioners slots allotted to each of the three political parties.

Legal adviser of the lower house of the parliament Mr. Mustafe Mohamed H. Dahir said today that the motion to add two members to the electoral commission is not in accordance with the rules of the House of Representatives and hence dismissed the motion.

The recent agreement was brokered by the EU ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Nicolas Berlanga, who has invested great efforts to achieve that breakthrough.

Nearly two years has been expended over this election impasse, allowing the overdue parliament to remain on the seat for more than 14 years.

The Speaker of the House Mr. Bashe Mohamed Farah announced a 45-day holiday which starts today.