By Goth Mohamed Goth
May-05-2015
Hargeisa-Top officials from the two official opposition political parties “WADDANI &UCID” today in a meeting which lasted a few hours met with members of Somaliland House of Elders (Guurti) committee on election timeline to discuss matters relating to the holding of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the country.
At least thirty WADDANI members drawn from the various echelons of the party were present during today’s meeting with the Guurtis committee on election in which they stated that the upcoming elections should be held within the timeline set by the national electoral commission (1ST /June /2016).
Mr. Boobe Yusuf Dualeh , WADDANI secretary for media speaking to the press moments after emerging from the closed door meeting said, “We fully standby the election timeline set by the NEC but it seems some others forces are still adamant in creating confusion and unsubstantial reasons for the extension more time.
“Our position is clear regarding this matter and we have clearly stated that we standby the decision by the national electoral commission but what we won’t allow is the more delays even if it one second , minute , one hour or even a single day, he stated.
Mr. Boobe went on to say, “Having stated our party’s position, I would like to remind the members of the house of elders of their role in not only the peace building institution but where the balance of power is checked for fairness of application of policies hence their duty not to favor any side, anything short of that shall be viewed unnationalistic.
On the other hand the chairman of the Justice and Welfare party (UCID) Hon Feisal Ali Waraabe speaking to the press said, “During the meeting with the Guurtis committee we stressed the importance of keeping with the election timeline set by NEC and the lack of any viable reason for further extensions.
“We also stressed that , as a political party we don’t see any reason for holding any national consultation forum for discussing the matter since the date has being already set by the national electoral commission instead what we should focus on the preparation that’s what we told the committee”, Hon Feisal said.
Somalilanders and the international communities alike are watching these matter closely especially at a time when oppositions accuse the Guurti leadership for having a close and questionable relationship with the current administration. They claim this relationship coupled with their incompetence makes the Guurti to mostly be content with keeping the status quo, which mainly is to rubber stamp the administration’s agenda. They assert that this House of elders has so far shown no objections to whatever they are presented and usually accept government plans in face value. Worse, the opposition have in the past insisted that Guurti defends government policies even though this is supposed to be where the balance of power is checked to ensure fairness application of policies.
