Federal MP claims elections being deliberately delayed

Abdisamed Moalim Mohamud who is a Somali lawmaker has accused the government election panel of intentionally delaying the holding of elections amid reports of extension the government mandated period has emerged.

The surprising claim by the lawmaker adds an uncertain holding to what has so far been an indirect election, where the government appeared to be taking its expected method to delay the election.

“The government has been delaying intentionally the election because maybe they want to play a trick or something,” said Mohamud.

He added, “At this time in 2012, there was a campaign for the election that has been felt in the capital, and elsewhere in the country.”

The politician’s accusation comes as Somalia is approaching a critical period of going to the polls this August to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections.

In April this year, over thirty MPs asked Somali government and international partners to give enough attention to hold parliamentary elections on the scheduled time  and warned that any delay could lead political instability in the country.

Somalia, a long-troubled Horn of Africa country, had been in the grip of political violence since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.