The Republic of Somaliland’s House of Elders (Guurti) set the date for presidential elections on 13 November 2017.
the House tasked a 21-member committee from the House to deliberate on the extension of six months to the tenure of the incumbent government which the country’s three political parties proposed for October 2017.
The House announced today that the Committee set the date for complete handover of the Presidency to the to-be-elected leader on 13 October which constitutionally sets the date for election on November 13 – a month before the government’s term officially ends.At
At the same session, Monday, the House, again, pushed back elections for the House of Representatives to April 28, 2019. Election of local government Councillors throughout the country will coincide set for the same date.
The Committee decision, concurred by the rest of the House, was based, as read out by the First Deputy Speaker of the House, on Article 83, para 5 and Article 42/3 of the Constitution of the republic.
The Committee said it had taken the state of the devastating drought in the country and the President’s address to a joint session of the bicameral parliament on 18 February 2017 which urged the Guurti to consider his express wishes not to be granted another extension more than that deemed absolutely necessary considering the circumstances.
Election of local government Councillors throughout the country, coinciding with that of the parliament, was set for the same date.
All three political parties welcomed the limited period the Guurti extended the term of the government.
Both Chairmen of the ruling party, Kulmiye, and Waddani, Musa Behi Abdi and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro”, respectively, stated that the Guurti was perfectly mandated to set extensions and that they would abide by the House decision.
UCID, however, showed reservation on the new dates set for the parliamentary and local councils seats which, the Secretary General of the Party, Abdinassir Yussuf Osman, said automatically adds another year to the election of MPs for the House of Elders (2020).
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