The chairwoman of the Somali Independent Electoral Commission, Mrs. Halima Ismail Ibrahim, also known as Halima Yarey, on Thursday affirmed that the commission had begun registration of political parties.
Mrs. Halima also underlined that the next parliamentarians will have the first two years after the next elections to join different political parties.
The registration process follows the passing of the political parties’ bill by the Somali parliament two months ago.
“We have 34 skilled employees to conduct the registration, including the spokesperson of the commission. We have already prepared election terminology with the assistance of senior Somali experts. We need offices to work from as currently we are working from the Somali Presidential Palace”, Halima said.
Somali president H. E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud earlier this year signed the political parties’ bill following its passing by parliament.
The current political parties in Somalia will be reorganized before the 2020 elections paving way for what is expected to be the most representative election in Somalia, as it will follow the one man one vote system as opposed to the current clan and federal state systems for the lower and upper houses respectively. This will hopefully put an end to decades of political turmoil in Somalia
The Somali citizens are preparing to participate in national election to be conducted later this year.
(Writing by Hassan Istiila. Editing by Julian Kamau)
