Waddani party presidential candidate meets House of elders speaker after lower house approved a bill backing the combination of elections

The Presidential candidate of Somaliland’s largest opposition party Abdirahman Irro has held the first official meeting with the house of elders speaker Soleiman Mohamud after the house of representatives approved on Monday a bill favoring a combination of the presidential and political elections.

The Presidential candidate of Waddani seems to attempt to convince the house of elders to make a similar decision and endorse the bill that could be a political challenge to President Muse Bihi who still has the choice to assent or reject it.

The country’s interior minister who is also the deputy chairman of the ruling party also engaged in a similar meeting with the house of elders speaker. It’s unclear if the rulling party will support the bill approval as the two opposition parties made their position clear and applauded it.

Somaliland’s election disputes started after the government announced that the registration and the political parties’ election should be conducted six months before the parties’ mandate expires, as stipulated by law number 14. The presidential and political parties’ elections are the centre of the crisis. The political crisis circulates a disagreement on which election should conduct first.

The opposition parties argued that the party’s mandate would expire in December, while President Muse Bihi’s term would end in November. So the government should hold a presidential election, and the political parties’ election should come after the presidential election.