By Goth Mohamed Goth
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Somaliland has accepted a proposal from the country’s women and minorities to pass the Electoral Law that includes the Somaliland Women Quotas and Minority Communities law.
The Speaker of the Somaliland House of Representatives pledged that when the House convenes/resumes for business this week, the women and minority communities quotas would be tabled and deliberated upon and the House leadership is committed to approving the quotas set by the President of Somaliland.
Hon. Ibrahim Mahdi Bubaa, Member of Parliament, addressing members of the media after the meeting, said, “The Parliamentary Committee on the Implementation of the Quota for Women and Minorities and in the presence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Bashe Mohamed Farah, we had long deliberations on the matter. Finally, it was agreed and accepted, and again the Speaker of the House of Representatives made it clear concerned stakeholders that the women and minorities will be approved. That the House of Representatives shall approve the women and minorities cum (Saturday) when the House convenes, the first thing the House will do or the first law it will work on will be the election law for the House of Representatives and local councils that includes quotas for women and minorities. ”
On the other hand, Sultan Nasir Sultan Abdi Ismail, one of Somaliland’s traditional leaders from the minority community, said; “When we saw that the three national parties in power had deviated from the path we had agreed, and the mandated in which we elected them. The women and I( Representative of the minorities communities) it’s we who have elected them and made them the national political entities;
Consequently, the three national political parties and their leadership after signing the latest deal (The three political parties deal on holding the upcoming parliamentary and local government elections) have clearly failed to honor any arrangement they pledged when they were not the official political parties or when they were in the campaign mode. Unfortunately, they have misled the people they represent, thus serving their own interests and not that of the political parties members, or the diverse people who co-exist be it of the different gender (Male or Female) or most importantly the nation of Somaliland.
Therefore, Nagaad Women Umbrella is strongly against the latest deal reached by the three official political organization on holding the upcoming parliamentary and local government elections in 2020 based on the 2005 electoral law. The 2005 electoral law excludes the women and minority communities’ quotas from the national electoral law. However, Nagaad welcomes the commitment of the House of Representatives to enact legislation the electoral law for the upcoming elections that includes the quotas for women and minority communities.
