12 Political Organisations Clear Candidate Stage for Galmudug Rerun

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: Somalia’s National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) has published the list of political organisations whose candidates will contest the September 30 rerun elections for Galmudug’s local councils and House of Representatives.

The commission said 12 political organisations submitted their candidate lists and required documents before the September 12 deadline, clearing an important stage in preparations for the repeat vote.

Organisations that failed to submit their candidate lists within the prescribed period were deemed unprepared to participate in the rerun, the commission said. It stressed that the decision related to compliance with the electoral timetable and procedures and did not cancel the legal registration of the affected organisations.

The rerun is scheduled for September 30, with campaigning due to end on September 28. Political organisations are expected to submit the names of their polling-station representatives on September 22, while accreditation of party representatives and election observers is scheduled for September 26.

The vote follows the Supreme Court’s decision on August 24 to annul the results of the July 30 Galmudug elections and order fresh elections after finding that the conduct of the vote had not complied with constitutional and electoral requirements.

The court ordered the electoral commission to organise new elections while allowing existing Galmudug institutions to remain in place until new officials are elected, preventing an administrative vacuum during the transition.

The July election had been challenged by political organisations, including the Towfiiq Party, which disputed the conduct and results of the vote. The Supreme Court subsequently invalidated the results and ordered a rerun.

The publication of the new candidate lists marks another step towards the September 30 vote, with attention now turning to the final stages of the electoral timetable and the commission’s preparations for the rerun.

The Galmudug election is being closely watched as part of Somalia’s wider transition towards direct elections, following the annulment of the state’s July vote and the legal and procedural issues that surrounded the earlier process.