Mogadishu (HAN) November 26, 2015 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Stability Initiatives News. Last week, a number of consultative fora were held around Somalia to discuss the possible options for the 2016 elections in Somalia.
The National Consultative Forum, the body tasked with identifying the best possible option for election of Members of Parliament, has proposed four options: a political party system, a district electoral college system based on the 1991 districts (92 in total), a regional administration electoral college option or the so-called 4.5 system based on clan distribution which was applied in 2012.
The discussions were held in Mogadishu and in other centers in Puntland, Jubaland, South West State and Galmudug at the beginning of last week. One additional forum to consider the views of people from Somaliland was held last weekend in Mogadishu.
The 750 delegates were people who originally came from Somaliland and are now living in Mogadishu, including members of the Federal Parliament, civil society leaders and other participants. They suggested another additional element, calling for a 50/50 split of parliamentary seats between Somaliland and the rest of Somalia.
Delegates said Somaliland should enjoy equal status with the rest of Somalia in line with the 1960 Act of the Union agreement. This would mean that Somaliland should be allocated 137 MPs leaving the other five regions of the country to share the remaining 138, out of a total of 275.
Currently there are 61 MPs in the Federal Parliament from Somaliland. Somaliland declared itself independent in 1991, and remains internationally unrecognized. It does not recognize these discussions in Mogadishu.
The National Consultative Forum will now have the job of reconciling the different views given during the fora and come up with a decision on the framework for the elections before the end of the year. MFA
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