Monday November 11, 2024
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s bicameral parliament approved key electoral laws on Monday, including rules governing elections, parties and political organizations and establishing the country’s electoral commission.
The laws were presented by Minister of Interior Ali Yusuf Ali Hoosh and received unanimous support from the 170 lawmakers present. The second Deputy Speaker of the House of the People, Sadia Yassin Haji Samatar, announced that the laws were passed without any opposition or abstentions.
The new legislation is aligned with the National Consultative Council (NCC) agreement, which calls for a unified, universal suffrage system across Somalia, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Two days prior, an interim parliamentary committee responsible for drafting these electoral laws elected former Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Guled as its chairman, with Senator Iftin Hassan Iman Baasto as deputy chairman.
The committee’s leadership and new laws support the NCC’s election timetable, with local, regional, and municipal elections set for June 2025, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in September.
The Ministry of Interior has urged Jubbaland and other States to adhere to the NCC agreements, underscoring the importance of a unified electoral process across Somalia.
