Adoption of the 4.5 electoral option top on the agenda as August House resumes for final leg

The last session of the Federal Parliament will resume today in what is expected to be eventful period in readiness for the August polls.

Top on the agenda will be the adoption of the electoral option for the 2016 polls following the completion of talks by the National Consultative Forum which settled for the clan based 4.5 system for the election of the Lower House members.

Federal Member States will elect the 54 member Upper House whose elections are slated for July.

Constitutional Review

Parliament will also be expected to continue with the constitutional review process with about ten articles remaining before the end of its term in August.

The Provisional Constitution, which parts of it are operational as adopted in 2012 to replace the Transitional Charter which ceased with the end of the Transitional Federal Government has been under review by parliament.

Parliament will also be expected to dispose of the Anti-Terrorism Bill which has been pending for some time now.

Equally important for the August House will be the Political Parties bill. Though political parties will not directly participate in the upcoming polls, parliament has been tasked to complete this assignment in early preparation for the anticipated one person one vote in 2020.

The 2016-2020 Political Roadmap seen by Goobjoog News indicates that the Boundaries and Federation Commission is expected to submit recommendations on conferring federal member state status on existing interim regional administrations by the end of May.

Constitutional Court

The Roadmap also indicates the constitutional court should be established in May in addition to the Human Rights Commission and the National Security Council.

The regional administrations will be formally recognised as Federal Member States in June. However the Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle state formation is yet to restart after wrangles which led to the collapse of the state formation conference in Jowhar.

Debate on security of the country in preparation for the elections is also likely to feature in the lawmaker’s tray even as cases of killings have exponentially increased especially in Mogadishu in the recent past.

Joint Somali Army and Amisom offensives have significantly eaten into Al-Shabaab territories countrywide but the group still poses risks with attacks in the city and drive by shootings.