A self-styled group of former statesmen and elders called the Somaliland Consultative Forum ‘Madasha Wadatashiga’, Wednesday, filed a case against the upper house of the Somaliland parliament, the Guurti, at the Constitutional Court – the Somaliland Supreme Court.
The Madasha accused the Guurti of unconstitutionally holding onto a status that they have long overstayed and, on top of that, extending terms to the lower house and itself once more at a time there was a political stalemate against stakeholders revolving around frequently postponed election schedules.
“We do not believe an illegitimate body can legitimize new extensions of terms which add more fuel to an already exacerbated situation,” Hassan Guure Jama, one of the leaders of the Forum told the media.
“With the new extension it has given itself,” he added, “the Guurti will be in office for over 22 unelected years”.
Guure stated that the Forum believed that the Upper House had no constitutionally admissible grounds to extend the House of Representatives’ term or for itself.
“The High Court is the only constitutional body that a citizen can resort to in matters that have a critical bearing on the destiny of the nation and its political, economic personality,” he said.
The forum had often been accused of being the personal handicraft of the incumbent President, Musa Bihi Abdi, to fight against his predecessor, Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyo, against whom it has mounted an often very caustic, very aggressive opposition throughout his term.
The Chief of Justice, the Honourable dan Haji Ali, received the file submitted him by the Forum for study, Guure revealed.
