Less than half of delegates lists submitted two days after deadline lapse

Federal Electoral body, FIEIT chair Omar Abdulle at a past function. The polls body said Tuesday it had received a total of 6,528 names out of the total 14,025 of delegates who will vote for members of the Lower House. Photo: Amisom

Clans from Somaliland and Banaadir regions are yet to submit a single list of delegates for the Lower House two days after the deadline lapsed while Jubbaland is remaining with one list according to a break-down released by the Federal electoral body FIEIT late Tuesday.

Out of the 14,025 delegates expected to vote for members of the Lower House starting October 23 to November 10, less than half or 6,528 names have been submitted to the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team.

Jubbaland, whose clans take up 43 seats in the Lower House has submitted 2,142 names out of the possible 2,193 while South West state clans which command the highest representation in the House with 69 MPs have submitted names for 57 MPs.

Puntland on the other hand which has 37 MPs has submitted only names for 6 MPs or 306 names. Each Member of Parliament is to be elected by 51 delegates. Other regions include Galmudug with 36 MPs having submitted 12 and Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle has submitted names for 11 MPs out of 37.

Clans for Somaliland have a total of 46 seats while Banaadiri community in Mogadishu have been reserved 7 seats in the 275 member chamber.

The FIEIT also said it will open its books to receive names of candidates for the Lower House starting Wednesday through to October 22 a day before polling stations open.

Male candidates will be required to pay $5,000 while their female counterparts will part with $2,500.

The electoral body did not however not comment on the 30% quota for women which each clan is expected to meet before being cleared for polls. It did not also indicate how long it will wait for clans to submit the lists after the October 10 deadline passed.