Somaliland: Parliamentary Election Conference
The election of the House of Representatives was overdue since 2010, the House of Elders extended the term of the HoR two times, which the incumbent members of the House of Representatives are on seats in eight (8) extra years without election, resulting denials against the fundamental rights of citizens in Article 22(1) of the Constitution.
In this manner, Inspire Group and SONSAF have organized Somaliland: Parliament Election Conference which was intended to facilitate in depth discussions about the House of Representative elections and generate options and policy recommendation that can help the Political Parties, National Electoral Commissions and Government to put in place a comprehensive electoral system particularly for the House of Representatives elections.
At the meantime, Somaliland civil society has been advocating the women’s quota for the last decades and this time is needed all election stakeholders to cooperate on how women’s quota to be integrated the country electoral system starting the House of Representatives election law and other electoral regulations.
Therefore, the dialogue on the election of the House of Representatives is currently essential for Somaliland’s electoral and democratization process. Many people argue that a lot of money was spent sequences of elections rather than the development but improving the governance and creating democratic institutions can lead Somaliland a better position and sustainable development.
Moreover, this conference was an avenue to stimulate meaningful discussions and draw some concrete policy recommendations on the House of Representative elections.
Objectives of the conference
- To build consensus around the need to hold the House of Representatives elections in March 2019.
- To provide options to solve the main issues facing Somaliland before the upcoming House of Representatives elections.
- To explore the merits of various approaches to decide seat allocation in the upcoming House of Representatives elections.
- To draw policy recommendations and propose a roadmap for implementation.
Participants of the Conference
All key election stakeholders will be invited:
- Members of Parliament;
- Representatives from each of the three political parties;
- Government officials;
- National Electoral Commission;
- Donors and International partners;
- Somaliland civil society; and Universities.
Special consideration was made to ensure that women and youth will be able to attend. Efforts will be made to have a gender balance. and to ensure that there are participants representing each region in Somaliland. It is envisaged that approximately 150 individuals would attend.
For more information, please #SomalilandElections2019
