Parliament defers electoral debate for two days as international pressure mounts

Debate on the 2016 electoral modalities was postponed Saturday for two days as it emerged the president requested parliament for time to iron out contentious issues before tabling the proposals afresh in the House.

Addressing the House during a brief sitting Saturday, Speaker Osman Jawari told the lawmakers the matters at hand were weighty and there was need for an informed debate based on a clear understanding.

He said the National Leadership Forum, which is made up of the president, the prime minister, speaker of parliament and regional states leaders had requested parliament to hold the debate for two days as it seeks to deal with some of the issues already contested by the House.

“Our other partners (NLF) are meeting today and they have requested we give them two days to finalise on the proposals,” Jawari said.

The development comes as patience from the international community runs. The US and EU have issued statements warning of consequences if parliament does not adopt the electoral model in time.

In a statement Friday, the EU warned it was going to review its support to Federal institutions in Somalia should parliament fail to adopt the model.

The UN Security Council had also warned Thursday of any attempts to delay the process calling on parliament to endorse the electoral modalities within two days.

“We are concerned that there might be some delay. We are concerned about anyone trying to unpick a part of the deal because very soon the whole deal could unravel. So we urge Parliament to endorse the modalities in a day or two,” said British Permanent Representative to Somalia, Matthew John Rycroft.