Veteran MP criticizes the Speaker of House of Elders

Hargeisa (Somaliland) – A veteran member of Somaliland’s House of Elders today lamented the drop in the criteria for membership in the House of Elders. MP Mohamud Mohamed Yaasiin Dheeg said the Houses membership has dropped from a communal affair to a family domain issue.

Senator Dheeg said that House membership passes from a family member to another without going back to the constituency even when new members do not fulfill the legibility constitutional requirements.

The veteran member stated that the supreme court allows members below the age threshold for membership to take up seats in the House of Elders. He blamed the lapse on the government, the supreme court and constituents for all neglecting their duties of upholding the integrity of the House of Elders.

Mohamud Yasin said he would have loved to have members knowledgable in culture, religion, and society at the chamber of the House of Elders. But that he said was not possible because of the gross neglect from all sides. He blamed the slide in the performance of the House on this compromised standard for membership.

On another subject, the veteran senator exalted the work of the mediation committee that broke the deadlock over the issue of The National Elections Commission. He said the committee delivered the solution Somaliland needed at this juncture of this history.

He entreated President Muse Bihi to ensure the implementation of the committee’s proposals and held him personally responsible for breaking the electoral stalemate.