AU hails Southwest for timely electoral process preparations

AU has lauded the progress made by Interim South West Administration (ISWA) on preparations for the 2016 electoral process, despite existing challenges.

AU envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira said AMISOM was satisfied with the progress made in identifying candidates for the upper house, adding that the Interim South West Administration had made a commitment to submit the list by next week.

“We were very impressed with the effort, the commitment and the speed with which names have been identified for the upper house and we were satisfied to hear that in the coming few days, the definitive list of the candidates will be produced,” said Madeira.

He hoped that the efforts made by AMISOM and the federal governments will pay off, noting that existing challenges will be resolved amicably, ahead of the actual electoral process.

“I have to say that we are really very impressed by the efforts made by the government and SIEIT (State Indirect Electoral Implementation Team). We have no reason to think that things will be derailed,” he observed.

 

Somalia will hold presidential elections on 30 November 2016, while parliamentary elections will be held from October 23 to November 10 for both the lower and upper houses. The elections of speakers for both houses of parliament will be held on 23 November.